Over the last couple of months, you may have been somewhat confused about what’s been happening with local government in Devon. We’ve seen the Government accept Plymouth and Exeter’s proposals for local government reorganisation, face a backlash, pause the plans and then withdraw them altogether, all within a matter of months and at a cost of hundreds of hours of work and millions of pounds. More recently, the Government slipped plans for a new mayor covering Devon, Plymouth and Torbay into the Budget. With so much changing in such a short space of time, it’s hardly surprising that people are confused, and frankly, I don’t blame them.

Many of you will be aware that I made no secret of my opposition to the Government’s decision to accept Plymouth and Exeter’s proposals for local government reorganisation, which would have dragged 13 South Hams parishes into a new “Greater Plymouth” and left West Devon abandoned in a super-sized rural council. My concern was always what this would mean for you, with fewer councillors representing much larger areas and communities potentially losing their identity and their say over decisions affecting them. More than 4,200 people signed the petition I presented to Parliament opposing these plans, and I’m pleased the Government finally listened, paused and then just last week withdrew the proposals altogether. I’ve never been against reorganisation in principle, but I couldn’t support proposals that would leave our communities worse off.

Despite all the time and money already wasted, I’m still really concerned that the Government has kept the original proposals on the table. It means we could end up right back where we started, with Ministers considering the very same plans that caused so much opposition in the first place. A final decision is expected early next year, and whilst I’m pleased the local elections in May 2027 will go ahead as normal, I do wonder why the Government is still entertaining proposals that so many local people have made clear they don’t want. I just hope Ministers have actually listened to what residents have been saying, rather than putting everyone through months of uncertainty all over again.

The plans for a mayor, announced in the Budget, are a different matter altogether. With the Government increasingly looking to channel funding and investment through mayoral authorities, I want to make sure Devon gets its fair share. There are clear opportunities when it comes to devolution, particularly when it comes to improving our transport infrastructure, attracting investment and supporting local businesses. However, I think we also need to be realistic about what having a mayor might mean. In Greater Manchester, for example, residents already pay an additional £61.75 a year for general mayoral functions on a Band D property, on top of the usual council tax charges. There’s also the question of how much say individual communities would have over decisions affecting them. I don’t want to see Devon missing out on the benefits of devolution, but equally, I don’t want local people facing another bill without knowing what they’re getting in return.

For me, the most important thing is that whatever happens next, local people don’t lose their say over how their communities are run which should always be the Government’s priority when these huge decisions are made. I’ve heard from so many of my constituents in recent months who are incredibly proud of where they live and understandably worried about what these changes could mean for their towns and villages. I’m all for giving Devon more powers and looking at ways to make our councils work better, but not at the expense of the communities they’re supposed to serve. Whether it’s reorganisation or devolution, I want to see changes that genuinely benefit local people, rather than ones that simply suit the Government and tick a few boxes.