Rugby's three party leaders and MP have set four tests for the 2028 council merger, including a Rugby Town Council and the name North and East Warwickshire.

The leaders of all three political groups on Rugby Borough Council, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK, have put their names to a single letter setting out what Rugby wants from the new council that will replace it in 2028. The letter to Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, is counter-signed by Rugby’s MP John Slinger, the council announced on 10 August.

It lands against a deadline. Where the Warwickshire councils need to make unanimous representations to the Government on the reorganisation, they have been invited to do so by Sunday 17 August.

Six councils become two

The Government announced its decision on 16 July: Warwickshire’s six councils will be replaced by two unitary authorities, subject to Parliamentary approval. One will cover Rugby, North Warwickshire, and Nuneaton and Bedworth; the other will cover Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon. All six affected councils, including Rugby Borough Council and Warwickshire County Council, responded with a joint statement promising to “work closely with Government, partners, our staff and councillors to support a smooth transition”.

The new arrangement is expected to take over on 1 April 2028, when the borough council and the county council both cease to exist and one authority takes on everything from bin collections and planning to social care and highways for the northern half of the county.

Timeline of Warwickshire local government reorganisation: decision announced 16 July 2026, representations to Government due 17 August 2026, Parliamentary approval to follow, new unitary council expected to take over on 1 April 2028
The road to Rugby's new council. Sources: Rugby Borough Council; Warwickshire County Council; Dunchurch Parish Council. Graphic by Rugby Town News.

The four demands

The group leaders’ letter sets out four priorities for the merger:

  • A strong and visible voice for Rugby, including consideration of the name “North and East Warwickshire Council” for the new authority
  • Fair electoral representation for Rugby’s residents
  • Sustainable funding to protect services and manage the effects of council tax harmonisation
  • Meaningful local decision-making, including the proposed creation of a Rugby Town Council

The leaders also want the new authority to explore devolving “appropriate powers, budgets and responsibilities to local communities, town and parish councils, and area committees”.

The signatories are Cllr Louise Robinson, leader of the council and of the Labour group, Cllr Jerry Roodhouse, deputy leader and Liberal Democrat group leader, and Cllr Kyle Stewart, leader of the Reform UK group. In a joint statement they said: “While our political groups held a different view about the best form of local government reorganisation for Warwickshire, we remain united in our determination to secure the best possible future for Rugby. Rugby must have a strong voice in the new authority. Its identity must be respected, its residents must be fairly represented, and vital services must be protected during the transition.”

The council says it will now discuss its priorities with North Warwickshire Borough Council, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and Warwickshire County Council.

What it means for you

Nothing changes yet. Until April 2028, Rugby Borough Council still empties your bins, collects your council tax and decides planning applications, and Warwickshire County Council still runs the roads and schools.

Two of the four demands are the ones most likely to touch your pocket and your postbox. Council tax harmonisation means the merged authority must eventually charge the same rates across Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth, and North Warwickshire, which currently set different ones; how fast bills converge, and in which direction, is exactly the “effects” the leaders want funding to manage. And a Rugby Town Council would create a new elected body, and a small extra precept, for the town itself, giving urban Rugby the parish-level voice that villages such as Dunchurch already have through their parish councils.

The name matters more than it might seem. The council is already describing the incoming authority as “the new unitary council for north and east Warwickshire” in its own announcements; the letter asks the Government to make “North and East Warwickshire Council” official, rather than a name that writes Rugby out of the picture.