News
Winchester and Canterbury Could Lose City Status
— 3 mins read
Five cities must charge residents extra council tax, or lose titles held for centuries
Winchester and Canterbury could lose their city status under the government's plan to abolish England's county and district councils, unless new ceremonial bodies are set up before 2028.
The overhaul, started by former Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and continued by her successor Steve Reed, will scrap two-tier county and district councils. They will be replaced by unitary authorities running all services in an area. According to a House of Commons Library briefing, around 134 councils will be merged into 38 new unitaries. Elections take place in May 2027 and the new councils take full control on 1 April 2028.
Five cities caught in the mergers
Winchester, a city since Anglo-Saxon times, will be absorbed into a new Mid Hampshire council under a decision made in March. Canterbury, whose mayor and council date from 1448, will join a new East Kent authority alongside Thanet and Dover.
Stoke-on-Trent, a city since 1925, will become part of North Staffordshire, according to Staffordshire County Council. Chelmsford will join Mid Essex. Southend-on-Sea, granted city status by Elizabeth II in 2022 as a tribute to murdered MP Sir David Amess, will form part of South East Essex.
When each city council is abolished, its charters, coat of arms, and mayoralty die with it unless a new body exists to hold them.
What it takes to keep the title
The standard route is a body called charter trustees, which holds the historic charters and insignia and keeps the mayor or lord mayor, though no longer as chairman of any council. The trustees charge a separate levy on council tax to pay for the mayoral car, staffing, hospitality, audit fees, and civic events.
Angela Rayner is forcing places that have been boroughs and cities for centuries through royal charters to go through a costly and lengthy process to retain that status.
The cost varies widely. In Bournemouth, the charge is around £2.27 a year on a Band D bill. In Margate, it is £18. Either way, the bill for keeping a title these cities already hold lands on residents, through a new charge on top of legal fees for a process for which none of them asked.
Gareth Bacon, the shadow local government minister, called the plan 'Labour's constitutional wrecking ball'. He said: 'Angela Rayner is forcing places that have been boroughs and cities for centuries through royal charters to go through a costly and lengthy process to retain that status.'
The Rochester warning
Rochester lost its city status in 1998 when it merged into the new Medway council and charter trustees were not appointed. It has never got the title back.
Martin Tod, leader of Winchester City Council, said: 'Winchester has been recognised with city status for as long as city status has existed, and we don't intend to lose it.' He said boundary changes and rules on parish councils made the way forward 'less straightforward', adding: 'We can't fix it on our own and we need them to work with us as well.'
Some cities are already acting. Southend councillors agreed in July to plan for charter trustees to protect the city's status and mayoralty. Stoke-on-Trent officials say the city's status 'will remain', though they warned of a 'complex and unnecessary bureaucratic undertaking' and a possible gap between the old council being abolished and the status being restored.
The Telegraph, which first reported the story, described the trustee charge as adding up to £18 a year to the average bill. Published council figures show existing charges range from around £2.27 to £18, and its report gave little weight to councils already moving to protect their titles.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: 'We recognise the pride, history and identity that sits behind our cities, which is why we will work with areas to make sure city status is preserved following reorganisation.'
Cities must now ask for charter trustees to be written into the legal orders creating the new councils before their existing authorities are abolished in April 2028.
