Government U-turn means local council elections in May will now go ahead
The Burnley Express has been told that May’s local elections will now go ahead depsite previosuly being postponed by the Government.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed today wrote to the 30 local councils affected to say he had decided to withdraw his decision to postpone the elections due to take place in May in the light of recent legal advice.
Burnley and Pendle Borough Councils had previously requested a postponement due to the ongoing local government organisation.
Mr Reed MP said in his letter to those councils today: “The Government can confirm that all local elections in May 2026 will now go ahead.
“I recognise that many of the local councils undergoing reorganisation voiced genuine concerns about the pressure they are under as we seek to deliver the most ambitious reforms of local government in a generation.
“I am therefore announcing today that we will provide up to £63m. in additional capacity funding to the 21 local areas undergoing reorganisation across the whole programme, building on the £7.6m. provided for developing proposals last year. I will shortly set out further detail about how that funding will be allocated.”