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London – there’s a new ’burb in town (potentially). At the moment, the Berkshire town of Slough sits just beyond the outskirts of Greater London. But now, local leaders are talking about making it part of the capital.
Slough’s got a pretty bleak reputation. It’s been named one of the ugliest places in Britain and was recently crowned the UK’s most miserable place to live . Lots of London boroughs ranked low on the happiness scale too, so Slough could fit right in (but here’s why it’s actually not that bad).
The potential merger is a result of the government’s English Devolution policy, which looks to reduce the number of smaller local authorities in favour of larger authorities with more power given to local politicians rather than central government.
It’s early days yet and nothing has been set in stone. Slough Borough Council still has to discuss a bunch of different options that are being presented in a cabinet meeting later today (Monday, February 17). Two of those options involve the area being made part of Greater London.
One possibility is that Slough could merge with a ‘strategic authority’ like Berkshire or the Greater London Authority (GLA). Another is that Slough could become part of a larger unitary authority. That means that it would join neighbouring boroughs, other local authorities, or a west London borough, such as Hillingdon.
For Slough to merge with London, elected politicians must agree and the public must vote in favour. So, even if the local council decides on joining a London authority as its preferred option, there’s no guarantee it’ll happen.
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