THE names of Devon’s four new councils that are set to be launched in under two years have been confirmed with a stark cut in councillor numbers.

The four new unitary councils will be called Exeter Council, Torbay and South Devon, Greater Plymouth, and Devon Council.

These will be the legal names given to them as part of the local government reorganisation process, however, once established, councils can apply to change their names.

A huge reduction in the number of councillors across these four councils looks set to take place, though, with the existing total of 481 members across Devon’s 11 councils dropping to 321.

That’s a fall of about a third and so could have an impact on the size of the wards that elected members will have to cover compared to now.

The new councils are set to launch by April 2028, and will be responsible for all the services within their respective boundaries.

Devon Council, which will be a vast, predominantly coastal and rural authority, will have the most councillors at 103, with Exeter Council the next largest at 86, followed by 68 for Greater Plymouth and 64 for Torbay and South Hams.

In a letter from the government to the chief executives of all Devon’s existing councils, it outlines a wish for joint committees to be created to help set up the new councils.

The Devon Council will have seven members from across the district areas and another seven from the county council, giving it the biggest joint committee.

Two people from Exeter City Council, and one from each of the three districts that will partly help create the new Exeter Council will join five county council representatives for a total of a 10-strong joint committee.

Similar arrangements will take place for the Torbay and South Devon Council and Greater Plymouth.

The government has confirmed £900,000 of funding per new unitary – meaning a total of £3,600,000 for Devon – to support the formation of the new councils, while there could be an additional £150,000 per new unitary to help ease the changes in children’s and adult social care.

The letter demands further information from Devon’s councils by August 17 to help it create a Structural Change Order, which is the formal mechanism for creating new councils and which will go through a full Parliamentary process.

Elections are set to be held for the new councils in May 2027, but the councils won’t fully take over from the existing ones until April 2028.

Exeter Council is set to take 15 parishes from Teignbridge, 28 parishes from East Devon and 6 parishes from Mid Devon; Torbay and South Devon will take 16 parishes from Teignbridge and 5 parishes from South Hams; Greater Plymouth will subsume 13 parishes from the South Hams; and Devon Council will be made up of the remaining area.

Crediton, Crediton Hamlets, Newton St Cyres, Colebrooke, Hittisleigh and Cheriton Bishop will become part of Exeter Council, while other local areas such as Sandford, Copplestone and Shobrooke will join Devon Council.