‘Scrapping Kent’s district councils could save £3bn’
Report finds ‘compelling’ case for merger
have already made this journey, they have the potential to bring services closer to residents.” The proposal would see around 213 smaller councils in England scrapped and replaced with 25 larger local authorities in a bid to “safeguard” council services in the wake of the pandemic. In Kent, this would likely mean the 12 district councils and unitary authority could merge with Kent County Council (KCC) into a single body serving 1.5 million people.
Cllr Alan Jarrett (Con), who is the leader of Medway council, the only unitary authority in Kent, said he would not support the idea of “major reform” to the way local government is run in Kent.
At a cabinet meeting last Tuesday, he added: “Without an effective local government and proactive sector we would not be in an improving position as a country that we are now.” Tunbridge Wells council leader Alan McDermott (Con) said the Government should not forget the “trust” and “confidence” the public has in local councils.
He added: “Covid-19 has shown that you cannot manage crises from Whitehall.”
Plans for an East Kent “super council” merging authorities in Dover, Folkestone, Thanet and Canterbury were mooted in 2017 but never progressed.
The CCN says it does not favour creating multiple unitaries for each area because that would mean “splitting up” children’s social services and adult social care departments which are currently overseen by county councils.