Steve Reed, former Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has been replaced by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham since making the announcement.However, before he was sacked, he wrote to Leicestershire council leaders, saying: “I judge that there is a strong public services and financial sustainability-related justification for the boundary change. “It strengthens alignment with the functional economic area and geography, improves the city’s ability to support housing delivery at scale, and provides a clearer governance footprint for strategic growth and devolution.”Leicester’s Labour mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said expanding the city made sense and was a move that was long overdue.The consultation results further revealed a proposal to keep the city’s current boundary in place and surround it with two unitary councils, one in the north of the county and one to the south, was the most popular choice, with 70% of respondents saying they were positive about the idea, compared with 21% who were against it.A third proposal, from the Reform-led Leicestershire County Council, saw 54% of respondents say they were negative about it and 35% positive.
Ministers ‘ignored’ public over Leicester expansion – MPs
