Ipswich faces major shake-up as government reveals council reform plans

Why it matters

The reforms represent the biggest change to local government in 50 years and could fundamentally alter how decisions affecting Ipswich businesses and residents are made.

The big picture

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner says the changes will move away from "micromanaging by central Government" and create "an economy and a society that works for everyone," while critics argue it will reduce local influence and create power vacuums for towns like Ipswich.

What devolution could mean for Ipswich

Councils will spend the next few months carefully dissecting, analysing and discussing every word of the government whitepaper, but it is broadly expected that:

• Suffolk and Norfolk would likely be combined under a single directly-elected mayor, creating a strategic authority covering both counties.

• All district and borough councils in Suffolk and Norfolk would be scrapped.

• With Suffolk's population at just under 800,000, the county would likely be divided into: East Suffolk and West Suffolk – with both areas having approximately 400,000 residents.

• While some areas in England are moving quickly toward devolution, changes in Suffolk and Norfolk are unlikely to be implemented before 2028.

• Transport and local infrastructure, skills and employment support, housing and strategic planning, economic development and regeneration, environment and climate change, health, wellbeing and public service reform, and public safety would all be managed by the strategic authority covering both counties.

What they're saying

Downing Street insists the changes would "give more powers to local areas, improve accountability and tackle waste," and are supported by Ipswich MP Jack Abbott who said: "We are now on the pathway for a new devolution settlement for Suffolk and East Anglia; one that is irreversibly committed to giving real economic, social, and political power to local people."

But devolution isn't without it's critics.

"We have the 825th Anniversary of Ipswich's charter in 2025, rather than celebrate we may be mourning the death of Ipswich as an authority, its voice, its pride, and sense of place," warns local businessman and critic Mark Ling, pointing to a history of diminishing local powers since 1974.

The government will strongly prefer areas to adopt elected mayors over strategic geographies. Ling argues this could "never work" for an authority in which Suffolk and Norfolk compete, given the latter's larger population. He points to previous regional partnerships such as the New Anglia LEP that he argues has favoured Norwich over Ipswich and Felixstowe.

The District Councils Network has also raised concerns. They argue that "mega councils" will:

• Reduce local influence

• Risk taking "powers away from local communities"

• May deprive "tens of millions of people of genuinely localised decision making"

• Limited proof that similar reorganisations had yielded cost savings in the past

What's next?

• Councils will receive letters from the Government in the new year outlining the changes

• The first new strategic authorities could be established by 2027

• Some local elections planned for May could be postponed, though delays wouldn't extend beyond "a couple of months, a year," according to Rayner

The bottom line

While the government promises greater local autonomy through devolution, the debate continues over whether larger regional authorities will strengthen or diminish Ipswich's voice.