A council leader insists £111,000 spent on the controversial revamp of local government has not been wasted – despite the reorganisation being 'paused'.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) spent the sum on external advice as it drew up its proposals for local government reorganisation (LGR) and work to separate its shared services with High Peak Borough Council.

Communities Secretary Angela Rayner announced earlier this month that LGR would be paused and reviewed after the government received updated legal advice.

Staffordshire Moorlands was due to be merged with Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme under the government's chosen model for LGR in Staffordshire.

It means the planned creation of the North Staffordshire unitary authority is now on hold.

District council elections in the Staffordshire Moorlands, which were set to be cancelled, will now go ahead in May.

Opposition Conservative councillors in the Moorlands, who opposed LGR, have condemned the situation as a 'fiasco' and raised concerns over the cost to local taxpayers.

But Mike Gledhill, Labour leader of SMDC, told this week's full council meeting that most of the work carried out to date has been 'correct' and emphasised that LGR had been paused and not cancelled.

He was speaking in response to a question from Tory group leader Mark Deaville, who called on the council to seek financial compensation from the government for its £111,000 spend.

Cllr Deaville said: "It's a considerable amount of taxpayer money. Will the council be seeking recompense from the government for this unnecessary expense?

"It's money that would be better spent on frontline services, and ultimately will be borne by the Staffordshire taxpayer."

Councils in Staffordshire were invited to come up with proposals for LGR after the government announced its intention to replace the existing two-tier system with new unitary authorities.

SMDC proposed a model that would have seen Stone and Uttoxeter join an expanded North Staffordshire unitary, but this was ultimately rejected by the government.

In addition to the development of the LGR proposals, the council has also had to carry out work to disaggregate services from High Peak.

SMDC's expenditure on LGR to date has been partly offset by £36,700 received from the government.

Cllr Gledhill said that SMDC's response to the pause should be 'disciplined and proportionate'.

While work on LGR itself has now been stopped, the council is continuing the disaggregation project and its 'legacy plan' – a raft of schemes SMDC intends to complete before it is abolished.

Cllr Gledhill said: "We need to be careful with language. Let's not mislead the residents of the Staffordshire Moorlands. At the moment there's a pause of LGR for a review. I think we'll hear more from government shortly, and when we do we will know the situation we're in.

"We will look carefully at the costs. But that work is not wasted. It's parked. Most of the work that's been done has been correct. It's ready to go, and it will go at the right time."

In response to a question from Tory councillor Keith Flunder, Cllr Gledhill agreed to write to the government to request that the LGR review be completed 'in a timely fashion' to minimise the period of uncertainty.