Warwickshire County Council is hoping to save itself from abolition by asking to become a continuation authority when local government reform is rolled out. 

Papers to be considered by county councillors on Tuesday (14 October) show that officers – the county's employed professionals – not only continue to recommend one unitary authority for the whole of Warwickshire but that the current county council carries on, absorbing the functions that are handled by districts and boroughs.

When the government requested that councils in two-tier areas like Warwickshire make plans to bring all functions under one level of council or councils, it was stressed by the county's politicians and reports from its staff that all six current authorities would be for the chop with new ones formed. 

However, the county's 70-page strategic summary within the documents for next week's meeting shows that it will ask to carry on under the rebrand 'Warwickshire Council' in order "to ease transition and minimise cost to the public".

The area's five district and borough councils would still be axed.

More light was shed on this prospect during last week's meeting of Stratford-on-Avon District Council's overview and scrutiny committee where its chief executive David Buckland ran through timescales and what councillors could expect dependent on national government's decisions.

He explained that the choice between the two options put forward for Warwickshire was not the only consideration, referencing the likelihood of a continuing authority.

"If it is likely to be a single unitary Warwickshire, in a number of cases the government has chosen a continuing authority," he said.

"That effectively means the county council still exists with functions bolted on, or the government could determine that a newly established authority or authorities are formed."

He went on to say that once the decision is made – councils expect to find out between May and September 2026 – a panel of current councillors from all authorities will be formed to oversee transition arrangements but the balance of that group will be informed by the model chosen.

Mr Buckland said it would be made up of a "majority of county councillors and a minority of district councillors" if Warwickshire gets continuing authority status, while there would be equal representation if a new authority is formed.

The councils are still being asked to work to a timeframe that would see elections to the new authority or authorities take place in May 2027 before going fully live from April 2028 with Mr Buckland anticipating spending restrictions for the districts and boroughs between those dates.

"In other areas, such restrictions have been that no revenue expenditure of greater than £100,000 can be committed to and no capital scheme greater than £1 million without the authority of that shadow council," he added, later referring to the timescale as a "stretching target" based on 20 two-tier areas all being given the same date.

The county's case also states it will seek "full membership of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) at the earliest opportunity" to unlock further devolution powers, a prospect that has been played down by West Midlands mayor Richard Parker in the recent past.

A counter proposal from the district and borough councils representing Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon, Nuneaton & Bedworth and North Warwickshire is leaning towards a two-unitary model, splitting the county into north and south, while Rugby Borough Council has yet to confirm its position. 

The county's case against that continues to be built around greater cost savings – it estimates a £68 million benefit compared with the two-unitary model over the first five years, numbers that districts and boroughs have disputed in the past – plus a smoother switchover of services to the new authority, particularly because bigger and costlier services currently handled at county level wouldn't have to be broken up. 

The counter arguments largely revolve around local identity and representation, the social and economic differences between the north and south of Warwickshire and the assertion that the financial case has been overstated by the county.

County councillors, a number of whom also sit on district and borough councils, will be asked to pass comment and express a preference on which option the cabinet – the Reform UK panel of councillors in charge of the county's major service areas – submits to the government in November.