The leader of two Warwickshire councils is preparing compensation requests over delays to local government reorganisation (LGR) after spending "millions"– irrespective of whether the process still goes ahead.

Cllr George Finch says Warwickshire County Council and Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council has spent "millions" on working to the national government's timetable to abolish the county's six biggest councils and consolidate them into two unitary authorities – one for the north and one for the south.

The same process is being rolled out in all two-tier council areas that have county councils supported by district and borough authorities but Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner MP (Lab) paused the process on Monday (7 September) amid threats of legal challenges to decisions made in other areas.

That pause will see a "full review" take place in regions where elections to the new authorities have not taken place and while the outcome may still be the same – two unitaries for Warwickshire as opposed to the single county-wide unitary advocated by the county council – Cllr Finch says there are implications to stopping at this point.

"We knew this was coming," he said.

"This was forced on us by the government, there was no mandate for or vote on this. We wanted a single unitary, they didn't listen to advice and decided differently."

Cllr Finch said the pause was "thanks to many Reform councils across the country beginning legal processes" and welcomed the principle of a rethink but was also scathing over the stage it has come at.

"I always said I didn't want LGR to happen," he said.

"I am quite happy it has been delayed in that sense but with the work Reform has done on this and challenging the cancellation of last year's local elections, we have fought hard for local democracy and it shows that we are winning.

"This is why it is important to have localised centres. I get stick for saying I want a headquarters in the north and that I am forgetting about Rugby and Atherstone but what I want is for the district and borough councils to stay where they are, so we have those localised centres.

"There is definitely room for efficiency and improvement, I know that because I am running two. I am basically doing LGR but with two different authorities that can work better together for the people."

Answering questions on the pause in parliament, Ms Rayner indicated that the plans for unitaries was still very much on the agenda of Andy Burnham's new government but stopped short of ruling out sticking with the two-tier system when directly asked.

Asked whether he would be fighting for Warwickshire to stick with two-tier, Cllr Finch replied: "This is something we haven't voted on. In principle I think I would fight for it but I'd like to see what happens first.

"One thing I do want is our money back. Warwickshire and Nuneaton & Bedworth councils have spent millions on consultants, officer time and rewiring our front-line services to make sure there are resources to deal with LGR.

"That has affected performance and priorities so I want compensation. We are currently getting the costs created, this is taxpayers' money and that is why I am taking a principled stand on this."

Put to him that government cash would still come from the pockets of taxpayers, Cllr Finch said: "The government has a huge problem with making savings at the moment and they need to pay councils for what they have spent.

"It is local taxpayers' money that could have gone on children's services or adult social care. Instead it has gone on something we didn't ask for.

"It should come out of the government coffers, absolutely. They should have to make the savings, and they shouldn't increase tax to give us the money back, they should make savings in areas that can repay local councils."