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Local Government Reorganisation

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Major changes are planned to councils across Worcestershire as part of the biggest shake-up of local government in more than 50 years.

The Government is requiring 21 areas of England to restructure their system of local government before 2029.

There are two parts to the Government’s proposed changes:

Local government reorganisation – where the Government is looking to replace Bromsgrove District, Malvern Hills District, Redditch Borough, Worcester City, Worcestershire County, Wychavon District and Wyre Forest District Councils with fewer councils.
Devolution – where the Government is looking to transfer powers and funding to new Strategic Authorities (also called Combined Authorities) that cover a number of new council areas and are responsible for large projects such as transport, infrastructure, and economic development.

Our public engagement took place in June 2025, the outcomes are now published on the ShapeWorcestershire website.

Together with other borough, city, district councils across Worcestershire, we used this feedback to create the 'Transforming Worcestershire' proposal.

This proposal sets out the vision for two new unitary councils to be created – one covering North Worcestershire and one South Worcestershire – running all services in their area.

They would replace the current six district councils and Worcestershire County Council.

The detailed final proposal - titled Transforming Worcestershire - was prepared and approved by Malvern Hills District Council, in partnership with Bromsgrove District Council, Worcester City Council, Redditch Borough Council and Wychavon District Council in November 2025.

It was then submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as the councils' official proposal for the reorganisation of local government in Worcestershire.

pdf Read the Transforming Worcestershire proposal. (10.05 MB)

pdf Read the councils' letter to MHCLG. (279 KB)

MHCLG will consider the proposal alongside another to create a single unitary authority for the whole of Worcestershire, which has been submitted by Worcestershire County Council and Wyre Forest District Council.

The Government will hold a statutory consultation on the two proposals in the first half of 2026.

Once the Government has determined which of the two proposals will be taken forward, elections will be held in May 2027 for a “shadow” authority or authorities, which will guide the setting up of the new council structure.

The new unitary authority or authorities will take over local services in April 2028.

Corporate Peer Challenge

In December 2024, we participated in a Corporate Peer Challenge run by the Local Government Association.

Corporate Peer Challenge is a tried and trusted tool for improvement offered to councils. It involves a team of senior local government officers and councillors spending time at a council to provide challenge, offer feedback and share learning.

All Corporate Peer Challenges focus on the five core components listed below:

Local priorities and outcomes
Organisational and place leadership
Governance and culture
Financial planning and management
Capacity for improvement

In addition, we asked our peer team for some feedback about our Connected Communities Strategy and the council’s approach to asset-based community development, along with some other service-based areas we think we can improve on.

During their three-day visit to Malvern Hills, the team gathered information and views from more than 45 meetings, went on two tours of parts of the district and carried out further research and reading. They spoke to more than 100 people, including employees, councillors and a range of our partners, external organisations and residents.

The peer team’s report provides a summary of the team’s findings. It is generally very positive, including comments on the approach we have adopted through our Connected Communities work, which the peer team considered to be a nationally significant Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Programme. We welcome the positive feedback and the useful areas for improvement and recommendations.

document Read the Feedback Report. (2.76 MB)

We had until mid-June 2025 to put in place an action plan to respond to the nine recommendations included in the feedback report. This action plan has now been approved by our Executive Committee and is pdf published here (173 KB) .

The peer team will revisit us in January 2026 to assess our progress with implementing its recommendations.

Media and Press Enquiries

For media and press enquiries, contact the Communications Team:

Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please note the Communications Team only deal with enquiries from the media. Members of the public should contact the relevant department for their enquiry, more information can be found on the Contact Us page.

Communications Team

The MHDC Communications Team is responsible for liaising with the media, corporate communications, reputation management, social media, internal communications, website content, marketing solutions, video content, and more.

The team also design and produce the annual Malvern Hills Residents’ Magazine which promotes the wonderful work of the community, as well as the council’s services and events.

pdf Read the 2024 version of the Malvern Hills Residents’ Magazine. (17.26 MB)

To keep up to date with what is going on at Malvern Hills District Council by signing up to our email alerts and keep an eye on our Latest News section on the website.

Consultation on Mandatory Safeguarding Refresher Training for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers

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Malvern Hills District Council is responsible for issuing licences in respect of drivers of hackney carriage (taxi’s) and private hire vehicles.

In July 2020, with a view to better protecting children, females and vulnerable adults, the Department for Transport (DFT) issued new statutory guidance to taxi and private hire licensing authorities, called the “Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Standards”.

Following its publication the Council reviewed its own Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, and in doing so introduced mandatory safeguarding awareness training for all new licence holders.

Having further reviewed the above and to increase public safety, the Council is now considering introducing a requirement that all licensed drivers have to undertake refresher training in relation to safeguarding awareness before renewing their licences, which they have to do at least every three years.

It is proposed that this requirement would be introduced from 1^st April 2025 and that drivers applying to renew their licences after that date will need to undertake a safeguarding awareness training to refresh their knowledge before their licence could be renewed.

The Council would now like to hear your views on the above proposal:

The consultation is closed.

Creditor Performance