Nottingham City Council has hit back at claims it prevented its Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) proposal from being included in a wider engagement exercise, insisting the process was open and transparent.<\/p>\n
Council Leader Councillor Neghat Khan said the authority had actively sought to ensure its proposal was considered alongside other options being developed across Nottinghamshire, after concerns were raised over how the city\u2019s plans were represented during discussions.<\/p>\n
The council said records from the engagement process show its proposal was shared with partner authorities and included in draft survey materials before a decision was made by a majority of councils not to include it in the joint consultation.<\/p>\n
According to Nottingham City Council, discussions on the engagement exercise began at a meeting of all councils on 23 July 2025, where it was agreed the city\u2019s proposal would be shared once a map was available and considered alongside other options.<\/p>\n
A map of Nottingham\u2019s proposal was circulated to councils on 25 July, with draft survey questions later shared on 28 July. The council said these included a question on the city\u2019s option, but a majority decision was subsequently taken not to include it in the shared engagement exercise.<\/p>\n
Following that decision, Nottingham City Council said it introduced an additional question for city residents as part of its own engagement activity, in line with previously agreed arrangements allowing individual councils to carry out supplementary consultation.<\/p>\n
Khan said: “Recent claims that Nottingham City Council blocked other councils from having their say on the city\u2019s Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) proposal are simply not true. The facts are important, and so is public confidence in a process that for us has been open, transparent and fair.<\/p>\n
“Far from preventing discussion of the city\u2019s proposal, Nottingham City Council actively sought to ensure its option was included alongside the other proposals being considered across Nottinghamshire.”<\/p>\n
The council said it believes debate around LGR should be based on evidence and facts, with residents given clear information about the choices available as discussions progress.<\/p>\n
Khan said: “Residents deserve an honest conversation about the future of local government in Nottinghamshire. Repeating claims that are demonstrably untrue does nothing to help that debate and risks undermining public confidence in a process that should be open, transparent and based on evidence.”<\/p>\n
The authority said it will continue to engage with partners as Nottingham and Nottinghamshire move into the next stage of local government reform, with the future structure of local services still under consideration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Authority says its proposal was included in early discussions and rejects suggestions that it blocked public engagement <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266702,"featured_media":2011687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"coauthors":[127717],"class_list":["post-2113153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-featured-story","tag-nottinghamshire"],"yoast_head":"\n