The biggest proposed change in the way local government is run in Kent for 50 years took another bold step into the future this afternoon. Kent County Council (KCC) decided to seek the fast track to a directly elected mayor and the abolition of all 14 councils in Kent,

Leicestershire County Council has asked the government to postpone the elections it is due to hold in May as part of plans for a major overhaul of local councils. The authority said delaying the vote would give it time to draw up detailed proposals in response to the government's plans to reorganise local government so every region of England has a mayor.

Politicians across Sussex plan to postpone local elections in May in favour of electing a mayor and replacing councils with unitary authorities. East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove councils met on Thursday and agreed on plans to create one strategic authority under a mayor.

The meeting, which took place on Thursday afternoon, discussed the plans and went in favour of the government's Devolution White Paper. The government announced in December it would would like to reorganise how local government works and do away with district and county councils in favour of unitary authorities,

The change would allow the authority, with the rest of Essex, to join the government's devolution priority programme and could mean the indebted council may never hold elections a

If approved, countywide elections would be delayed until May 2026, potentially to elect councillors to a single, brand-new, unitary authority that would replace Worcestershire's seven existing councils.