18 councils have requested a delay in elections due to changes in local government.

Eighteen local authorities in England have asked for permission to postpone their elections due in May until next year to implement major reorganisation.

The Minister will make the final decision and not all requests will be accepted.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Local Government Minister Jim McMahon said there would be a “high bar” to allow a delay and the government would aim to make its decision “by the end of the month or a couple of weeks at the most”. ,

Under local government changes, smaller district councils could merge with local county councils to form a single body, which would represent a population of around 500,000.

The government has argued that this would create simpler, more efficient ways of providing local services, but the body representing district councils has warned that the creation of “mega councils” could undermine local decision-making.

There have also been concerns about delaying the elections to enable restructuring.

The Conservatives’ shadow local government minister David Simmons said he was not surprised that so many councils had requested to delay the election.

“Why does it have to cost local council taxpayers millions to elect people to councils that are about to be abolished?”. He said.

However, he warned the government that continued uncertainty would also risk wasting money.

McMahon said the government would “only postpone elections where there is a clear commitment to delivering both restructuring and devolution in a set ambitious timetable”.

He said that while councils had put forward “genuine proposals” for change, it would be “nonsense to hold elections for bodies that don’t exist”.

The minister promised that the government would “move forward with speed” to form new councils and that elections would be held “at the earliest opportunity”.

Liberal Democrats spokeswoman Vicky Slade said local government needed “significant reform”, but expressed concerns that local voices would be sidelined by “top-down orders” from Whitehall.

Conservative MP Mark Francois said there was “no outcry” in his local area of ​​Essex for the proposals and proposed holding a referendum so the county could vote on whether they wanted to “vote for massive change”. Are or want to remain as they are”.

The Brexit-backer joked that “If there were such a referendum – and I never thought these words would pass my lips – I would happily vote.”

Rupert Lowe of Reform UK said that Americans had fought for independence based on the principle of “no taxation without representation” and asked that their local constituents still be allowed to pay their council tax after May if their elections were delayed. Why should one continue to pay?

Several MPs asked what would happen if a council deep in debt merged with a council that had managed to balance the books.

Conservative Kit Malthouse said it would be “grossly unfair if many years of careful management were to be undone by collusion with more spendthrift neighboring councils”.

Liberal Democrat MP Will Forster revealed that his local council of Woking had accumulated £2.1 billion of debt and said that neighboring local authorities were concerned that they would have to share the debt in any potential new deal.

He asked how such cases would be handled and whether the government would agree to “forgive” Woking’s debt.

McMahon joked that it would be “quite career-limiting” for him to agree to repay the £2 billion loan without the Treasury’s permission.

On a general point, he said the government understands the financial challenges and is working to find solutions, but “is not at the point of announcing it yet”.