Council merger Proposals to split county in two put on hold
ALOCAL authority has set aside £25,000 to promote the scrapping of Gloucestershire’s county and district councils in favour of two new authorities.
Cotswold District Council’s cabinet agreed to reserve the money to “influence the shape of local government reorganisation in the county”, a council document said, in anticipation of a government white paper expected to be published later this year.
However, Stroud District Council, which was expected to approve the same proposal, pulled out before the council meeting on Monday night until it has “more understanding of what the white paper contains”.
The devolution document would see county and district councils – the top tiers of authority – be invited to propose merging their powers.
Under the plans it would see the seven councils in Gloucestershire abandoned and replaced with two unitary authorities.
One idea being looked at is splitting the county in two to form an East and West Gloucestershire – creating one council for Cheltenham, Stroud and
Cotswold and another for Gloucester, Forest of Dean and Tewkesbury.
There has been some opposition to the merger, mainly from county councillors.
They include county council leader Mark Hawthorne, who has argued the move would lead to council tax hikes to pay for duplicating services, disrupt alignment with NHS, fire and local enterprise partnerships (LEPS), and lead to “weirdly shaped council areas that make no sense to anyone”.
In a joint statement by Cotswold, Cheltenham and Stroud councils published last month, they said two unitary authorities would be “efficient” and “represent our unique urban and rural communities”.
Cotswold District Council leader Joe Harris said in the meeting on Monday there was no timeframe for the work.
Mr Harris (LD, St Michael’s) said: “Until the Government publishes timescales then we do not know.
“We can wait around until the devolution white paper comes out but the Government have been having so many conversations via ministers, previewing what will be in it, we might as well start the piece of working now that gets the ball rolling.
“This is going to be a long and hard road. There will be internal political decisions, there already is.”
However, in a separate meeting in Stroud, district council leader Doina Cornell said the Government was having “a rethink” about its proposals for the white paper and proposed to delay a decision to a later date.
Ms Cornell (L, Dursley) said: “In view of this uncertainty, after much reflection and consultation with my alliance colleagues, I propose that we postpone this formal decision you have seen for this evening’s meeting until we have more understanding of what the white paper contains.
“This decision is actually quite timely because just after we considered that today, I had some information only this afternoon that actually Government is having a rethink about the proposals.
“The message which has come out from the ministry is that there is likely to be a change of emphasis away from compulsion on local government reorganisation, and towards only taking it forwards in those areas that really do want it.
“It seems right to pause and wait and see what the Government’s revised thinking involves, and I am sure we will get more information on that very shortly.”