Five two-tier areas are reportedly being lined up by ministers to be at the front of the queue for reorganisation, LGC has been told, however talks with the government are yet to get fully underway.

Cumbria, Greater Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Somerset and Surrey are all said to be in the running to be announced as forerunners for the latest round of reorganisation alongside the publication of the local recovery and devolution white paper, now expected early next month. A number of Conservative councillors have told LGC it is likely to be unveiled as part of the partys virtual conference from 4 to 7 October.

Sources in areas involved in discussions with the government have told LGC ministers are keen to press ahead with the reorganisation agenda and postpone next years county council elections in these areas, but this means legislation would have to be laid before Parliament in October, creating a tight timetable for initial agreement.

The news follows a report in the Sunday Times this weekend that the white paper is set to set in train an even bigger shake-up of local government than the reforms that scrapped shire counties in 1974. The paper reported the white paper would mean a two-thirds reduction in councils in two-tier areas, with a 600,000 population cap on new councils and hundreds of new mayors in a bid to break Labour strongholds on local government in the north. However, a subsequent story in todays Times referred to "dozens" and the Sunday Telegraph reported 30 mayors.

Senior local government figures questioned some of the details in the article but said councils looking to reorganise were getting strong encouragement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. However, it is still not clear how committed Number 10 is to the controversy and upheaval it will bring among mainly Conservative councillors.

One source with knowledge of discussions in government said: The most interesting take away from this is the competing battle in government about the extent of how hard they are going to push this.

They said the suggestion of the creation of around 30 mayors sounded reasonable.

Chair of the District Councils' Network John Fuller (Con) agreed.

Thirty directly elected mayors is the number we are hearing from the government, yes.

He said the story this weekend, along with reports in the Sunday Telegraph about a return to historic county names were examples of anonymous briefing and kite flying around this issue that had characterised the summer.

Stewart Young (Lab), leader of Cumbria CC, said his county is one of the five the government is prioritising for restructuring. We wrote to Simon Clarke over a month ago asking him to issue a formal invitation but we havent yet had a reply, he said.

Carl Les (Con), leader of North Yorkshire CC, told LGC he was aware of the issue around the tight timescale for postponing elections but had had only informal discussions about the timetable for reforms with government.

He said: It is still our understanding that outline proposals will have to be submitted by the end of September and detailed proposals by the end of October.

We are working to that. But as yet we have not received an invitation for a proposal from the government. I would have hoped to have received it by now.

Lincolnshire CC leader Martin Hill (Con) told LGC there were rumours the council might receive a reply to its letter of request seeking to open discussions on a devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire this week, two months after it was sent.

If/when the government sends us a decision well have to look at what the criteria are and what the government might look favourably on.

Asked about the deadline for postponing next years elections, a spokesperson for MHCLG said the government was looking at a range of options in relation to reform.

They said: We want to devolve and decentralise to give more power to local communities, providing opportunities for all areas to enjoy devolution. But there will be no blanket [abolition] of district councils and no top-down restructuring of local government.

The devolution white paper, which will be published this autumn, will set out our detailed plans and we continue to work closely with local areas to establish solutions to local government reform.

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Five at front of the queue for 'biggest shake up since 1974' - Local Government Chronicle