10/09/2026
All this money (annual salaries over £800,000 when looking at old job adverts) which could have been spent on much needed and secure council jobs and/or restoring our services. Never mind all the money spent on consultancy firms. LGR a waste when there’s so much to improve.
Council staff hired specifically for a major Nottingham city expansion find themselves in limbo after the government abruptly pulled the plug.
The idea was to abolish several local councils and create two giant new authorities by 2028.
It sparked months of fierce arguments over whether Nottingham's borders should expand to take in parts of Gedling, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe, but the government abruptly paused the entire rollout on Monday.
Now residents are asking what happens to the massive amounts of public money already poured into the preparations.
Nottinghamshire County Council alone has spent more than £185,000 on the process.
Nottingham City Council even hired a brand new director on a salary of up to £105,000 whose sole job was to work on this exact project.
Another advert for a £54,600 role linked to the paused scheme has only just vanished from the council's website.
Local officials say it is too early to say what will happen to the highly paid staff whose core project is now on ice.
A joint statement from Nottinghamshire authorities acknowledged the limbo their workers are currently facing.
They said: "Across the councils, our colleagues are our greatest asset, and their continued work and commitment to delivering services to our communities in such uncertainty doesn't go unnoticed."
Even so, some local leaders are already predicting the sweeping overhaul will never actually happen.
Local elections scheduled for May 2027 will now simply go ahead using the boundaries of the existing councils.
