There are fears local government reorganisation will be like Brexit and dominate the attention of Gloucestershire’s district councils. The Government unveiled plans last week to shake-up local government across England.
Ministers say the English Devolution White Paper aims to give more powers to local government. But it also proposes creating more unitary councils which, in Gloucestershire, would mean district councils such as Stroud District Council would be abolished.
Gloucestershire is currently a two-tier area where local government responsibilities are split between the County Council and district councils. Ministers want this reorganisation to happen in the current Parliament.
And Shire Hall’s Conservative leader intends to request the postponment of next year’s county elections to fast track the creation of a unitary for Gloucestershire. Stroud District Council’s deputy leader Pete Kennedy (G, Painswick and Upton) raised concerns (December 19) about the impact of devolution when talking about how it would impact bin collections across the county.
He made the comments while councillors debated and approved plans to invest up to £10,00 extra in Ubico, the waste company jointly owned by councils in Gloucestershire to explore growth opportunities with potential new stakeholders.
Questions were asked at the meeting last Thursday about what impact devolution and the reorganisation of council structures would have on services such as the one provided by Ubico.
“I think the Ubico thing is probably going to be one of the most straightforward parts of all of this,” he said. “I’ve heard from leaders of other unitarised authorities that it is a long and drawn out process to bring together the staff from all these different councils on different terms and conditions, finance systems…
“Ubico and other shared services we have could actually be some of the easiest things to transfer across because they are all kind of on the same level already. It’s going to be like Brexit to be very, very frank.
“These next few years will be like Brexit, in terms of the domination of our thinking, decision making and the things we are going to have to do to prepare for this.”
Earlier in that same meeting, Council Leader Catherine Braun addressed the council chamber and gave an update on the English Devolution White Paper and its potential implications for Stroud District. “The government plans to abolish all two-tier authorities and replace them with unitary councils.
“There are currently 164 district councils and 21 county councils across the country, so this is bound to have significant impacts. There is also a push for all council areas to have directly elected mayors who will head up a strategic authority.
“The strategic authority will comprise three or more unitary councils. So you’ll be aware that there are already some of these metro mayors in more urban areas across the country, and council powers will move from the district and county councils to the new unitary council and new combined authority.
Council leader Catherine Braun speaking at the council chamber at Ebley Mill on December 19, 2024
(Image: Carmelo Garcia)
“The objective is about providing a more consistent approach across the country and allowing all areas to benefit from devolved powers, for example, for local public transport. It’s also about reducing the risk of financial failure of councils, given the number of upper tier authorities whose budgets have been really squeezed by service pressures, particularly social care.
“The white paper also states that reorganization will deliver efficiency savings and increase local accountability, though we do have to look at the evidence on that and whether bigger is really better. But whatever we think of the English Devolution White Paper, it’s quite clear that we will have to follow it.
“So councils in two tier areas like Gloucestershire will be expected to reorganize over this 5 year parliament and the next in a phased approach, with the first new unitary councils expected before the end of this parliament. So the changes will take many years to implement.
“For Gloucestershire, the most likely outcome seems to be a new unitary council for the entire county. As district and county leaders and chief executives, we met yesterday and expressed support in principle for this approach, though in reality, we have very little decision making power.
“The government has asked us to make this change, and if we refuse to do so, it can be imposed by the minister. In terms of a future strategic authority, leaders are keen to keep all options open at this stage.
Stroud District Council’s headquarters at Ebley Mill
“So I think we all recognize there is a natural alignment for us with the existing partners in the west of England. I know many members will be concerned about the loss of the districts as the most local level of community service delivery, and the design of the new council will want to make sure that services continue to be provided as close to our residents and businesses as possible.
“At this stage, we’ve only agreed in principle to comply with the government requirements to set up a unitary council, and we don’t yet have any details about what that will involve or the time scales.”
She said the Government will formally invite unitary proposals from Gloucestershire in January. And that the County Council has decided to ask the minister to postpone their elections in May next year so that Gloucestershire can be fast tracked towards unitary council status.
However, she said she was not clear on whether that would be successful as there are other counties ahead of Gloucestershire in the queue with their devolution proposals.
“I know this upcoming time of change will be unsettling for all of us, for council staff, for members, for all of our communities and businesses and the partners that we work with day to day.
“I’m sure that many of us have got a lot of questions about what it means for different services as well. So please do speak to your group leader in the first instance,, and together group leaders will collect questions and hopefully we’ll start to pull together some answers as we receive more information from the government.
“The new year should bring news on what will be expected from us, and those timelines for change over the coming years. As I mentioned yesterday to the other Gloucestershire leaders, I’m very keen that this process allows for full community engagement, and it’s shaped by the vision and the values that we set as members for this new authority.
“I know we will all want to put in place the best possible arrangements to serve our communities, and your input as members representing your communities and helping to shape the future will be needed now more than ever.”