A BURNTWOOD councillor says the latest proposals for local government reorganisation “could do more harm than good”.
The Government is seeking to axe two-tier authority areas in favour of unitary bodies.
It would mean services currently provided by Lichfield District Council and Staffordshire County Council run by a single council instead.
A range of proposals have been discussed, including a county-wide unitary authority or several smaller ones.
Staffordshire County Council’s Reform UK administration is now set to discuss plans for an East-West split which would see Lichfield and Burntwood in with the likes of Stoke-on-Trent, Tamworth, East Staffordshire and Staffordshire Moorlands.
It comes despite the deputy leader of Staffordshire County Council admitting the financial challenges of dealing with Stoke-on-Trent would be a “burden” on taxpayers in a new unitary authority.
Now the leader of Burntwood Town Council has warned that the Reform UK proposals are “ill-conceived”.
Labour’s Cllr Darren Ennis, who also sits on Lichfield District Council, said:
“If Burntwood thinks it gets less being run from Lichfield, will it be improved run from Stoke?
“Reform’s idea of creating a super-unitary council for over 690,000 residents and merging Lichfield with Stoke-on-Trent raises serious concerns.
“Such a large council risks disconnecting local decisions from the communities they serve, making it harder for residents to have a real say on their local services.
“This plan seems ill-conceived and could do more harm than good for local democracy.
“We need to question whether this is the right approach and insist on a system that keeps community voices at its heart.”
Cllr Martin Murray, deputy leader of Staffordshire County Council, said:
“In an ideal world, we would avoid the burden of Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s financial distress on people across the wider county, but the Government are likely to dismiss any option that does not help to solve these long-running financial problems or meet their wider criteria for change.
“We will follow the rules of the game set by Government so that they are compelled to consider the option we put forward.
“We want the best for our residents and businesses – this isn’t about politics, it’s about giving Staffordshire the best chance of success in the circumstances.
“Of the options that meet the Government’s criteria, analysis is showing that an East-West option gives the best chance of success for both new councils.
“A council’s success means better services and better value for residents and businesses.”
Either way seems to be a bit if a “Horlicks” choice?
Change for changes sake.
I completely agree.
The points the Burntwood Councillor makes are valid but he is undertaking a massive attempt at deflection. This whole exercise is not Reform’s idea. It is being imposed on them by his party’s government. Whichever way you cut it the council tax payers of financially prudent councils, and I include LDC in that in spite of their many faults, will pick up the debts of profligate councils. LDC’s long term loans are about £1 million, miniscule compared with other councils, for example Tamworth £63 million, Stoke £709 million etc. Whichever way the government’s plan is implemented, it appears that the council tax payers of Lichfield will pick up other people’s debts. The best way forward is to abandon the whole idea and keep the system which would maintain District Councils which as he says can “keeps community voices at its heart.”
Larger councils would be less costly because of the economies of scale that would be on offer. It is wasteful for Staffordshire to have 10 councils each with a chief executive and each operating its own refuse collection etc. The minimum level of population which a council should have to be financially viable is between 450-650,000. Smaller unitary authorities like Stoke ( 265,000) have struggled to remain financially stable due to the costs incurred in running its own Education department and social services hence the reorganisation to local government which both the former Conservative government & the current Labour government have proposed. The real issue which arises is where the boundaries of those new councils should be. The current local district & Borough councils have all proposed a North/South option for the two new councils. However, the new Reform county council have come in at this late stage and they have come up with the option of an East /West council.