City status will not be lost in shake-up - minister

A city's status will not be lost as a result of local authority reorganisation, the government has said.

Gloucester attained city status following the dissolution of the monasteries and the subsequent transformation of St Peter's Abbey into a cathedral in 1541.

But councillors are concerned this could be lost or removed during a proposed council shake-up that will see Gloucester City Council abolished and merged with six Gloucestershire districts to become a "super council".

Local government minister Jim McMahon has said the government will do whatever it has to do "to ensure no city loses its city status through reorganisation".

McMahon told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it "would be absolutely wrong if a city risked losing its status just because its city status is aligned to a local authority that is being abolished rather than to a geographical area".

"I can give an absolute assurance that even if we have to introduce new legislation to preserve that status, we will do whatever we have to do to ensure that no city loses its city status through reorganisation," he said.

"City status and ceremonial matters play a valuable role for local pride."

Councillor Jeremy Hilton, for Kingsholm and Wotton, said he was relieved and pleased.

"We are still waiting to find out how they will make sure that is done but previously we were getting pushback from people working in Whitehall," he said.

"But the fact we have now had it from Jim McMahon is really positive.

"It now means it is on their agenda and they are not going to let the system fall apart because they haven't thought about it."

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