ALL members of Staffordshire County Council have come together to call for the Prime Minister to scrap local government reorganisation.
Final proposals are currently being drawn up ahead of a deadline at the end of this month to decide what the shape of councils in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent will look like.
The Government is keen to remove two-tier areas – such as Lichfield District Council and Staffordshire County Council – in favour of unitary authorities.
But disagreement continues over how this could look locally, with a number of different options being put forward, including once which could see Lichfield and Burntwood merged with Tamworth and East Staffordshire and another where the connections would also include Staffordshire Moorlands and Stoke-on-Trent.
In a letter signed by all 62 members of Staffordshire County Council, leader Cllr Ian Cooper said that while devolution was supported, the structural reorganisation was unnecessary and would be costly for taxpayers.
He said:
“We recognise that local government reorganisation may be appropriate in some areas to enable devolution. However, imposing it wholesale on Staffordshire is unnecessary and risks becoming a costly political experiment.
“It will divert time, energy, and resources away from the real priorities and challenges our communities face now and in the years ahead.
“The proposed timescales are unrealistic and threaten critical services such as social care. Adding unnecessary pressure to already stretched services that are relied upon by our most vulnerable residents is unacceptable.
“Instead, let us work together to deliver ambitious, meaningful devolution, strengthening local democracy and delivering real benefits for our residents.”
Absolutely agree that reorganization could prove costly without a good outcome. My view is that it works well at present and – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it !
Not a bad plan B, but plan A should be accepting that the Reform UK proposed east/west split is a bad idea that is not supported by residents or any of the district councils. Rather than just kicking and screaming about reorganisation, how about coming up with a decent proposal that people would not be unhappy with if it is required. Or is this just the usual Reform UK tactics so they can blame someone else?
No chance – its already a done deal elsewhere
The District Council derives very little income from rates or government. This makes them relatively ineffectual. The City Council even less so. The County Council is responsible for all major infrastructure and services. The rates have increased insidiously year after year but our infrastructure and environment continues to deteriorate. There is no defenceable reason to continue with this model. Are things better than a decade ago? No, they are far worse.
If its not broken leave it a loan staffordshire moorlands have done a grate job tel labour hands off haven’t thay done enough looks like thay want all councils bankrupt like Birmingham City Council