Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Councils’ bid for super authority is biggest shake-up in 40 years
Paul Francis
Council chiefs were last night poised to take the first step towards creating an east Kent super authority in what will be the most far-reaching shake-up of local government for more than four decades.
Independent consultants who explored the idea say the business plan for merging east Kent’s district councils is sound.
Canterbury City Council’s chief executive Colin Carmichael and its Conservative leader Cllr Simon Cook have been at the centre of discussions and staff were due to receive the news yesterday (Wednesday).
Originally five councils were considering the merger since last year: Ashford; Dover; Canterbury; Thanet and Shepway.
They set out some of their ideas in a “statement of intent” in June, in which they said merging “merits further serious consideration” – although there has been speculation that Ashford is likely to withdraw from the project.
The councils involved will need central government approval before they can finalise the merger, which could see the first elections to it taking place in 2019.
Reductions in central government funding to local authorities is driving the proposed reorganisation, but the councils insist a super authority can provide the same services at a lower cost.
It would have fewer elected representatives and there could be an effect on jobs.
Public sector union Unison, which represents local government in employees in east Kent, will scrutinise the proposals.
Regional organiser Mark Hammond told the Gazette yesterday: “Obviously, from our point of view we have to look at protecting our members’ jobs. If there is going to be a large reduction in jobs, then we would be against that.
“If they are looking to cut back on budgets then this could be a real issue for us. We will be looking to keep members’ jobs and maintain service delivery.
“It’s still early days and the details are a long way from being worked out, so we will just have to wait and see.”
Each council will now consider the views of residents before a more detailed scheme is likely to be put out to public consultation in March.
Council chiefs have stressed they are not interested in securing unitary status, which would involve the break-up of the county council system.
But it will still be the most single biggest change to local government since the creation of the modern district councils in 1974.
But Prof Richard Scase, the University of Kent business expert, believes an east Kent council will not materialise and says the time has come to create unitary authorities across the county.
He said: “Local government in Kent is a mess. You have the county council and separate districts – that can’t be an efficient way of doing things. My view is that someone should break up Kent County Council and in its place have four unitary councils.
“I can’t see the individual councillors on these councils pooling their common thinking for a very diverse area where the needs of Dover are very different to Thanet, which are in turn very different to Canterbury.
“To bring this all together in terms of a coherent strategy would, I think, be a mammoth task.”
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