District councils unite against one unitary authority

District council leaders have said they are "united" against the idea of having one unitary local council for Suffolk.

Suffolk County Council has officially published its interim plans for local government reorganisation and has proposed a single unitary authority to replace the current county and district two-tier system.

Richard Rout, from the Conservative-run county council said: "Independent analysis shows that the financial benefits of having just one council would be more than nine times greater than a two-council [unitary] model."

The five Green and Labour district council leaders say one authority "would be too large to work effectively and too remote for local residents to be heard".

The government announced in its Devolution White Paper in December it was shaking up local councils and devolving power to new mayors across the country.

Councils would be scrapped and replaced by one, two or three authorities, which would provide all services, including social services and education.

The current system in Suffolk where the county council provides the bulk of services including social services, education, roads and waste disposal.

The county's five district councils (Babergh, East Suffolk, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk and West Suffolk) provide waste collection, planning and building services, and leisure facilities.

Suffolk and Norfolk have been fast tracked for devolution, which means they are having to reorganise quickly. The government wants to see interim plans - on how to reorganise and bring devolution to the county - by 21 March.

The government has said any unitary authority must, at a minimum, cover a population of 500,000.

For Suffolk, with a population of about 800,000, this would mean it could not have more than one new unitary authority.

A combined authority would also be formed across Norfolk and Suffolk which would be led by a directly elected mayor and manage services like transport and employment skills.

A report by the report published by the County Council Network (CCN) last week said "replacing the two-tier system with a new wave of councils... could save at least £1.8bn over five years".

It added those savings would reduce "dramatically if county and district authorities are replaced with multiple smaller councils – potentially costing local taxpayers hundreds of millions".

Rout, the county council's cabinet member for devolution, local government reform said: "This latest analysis shows splitting Suffolk into three will actually cost money, not save it.

"It's clear that having a single council for Suffolk will free up more money to reinvest in frontline public services that benefit residents.

"If truly sustainable and effective councils are to be created, then one council for Suffolk is the only viable option."

The District Council Network (DCN) has said it was "sceptical" about the levels of savings claimed in the CCN report.

The DCN's chairman Sam Chapman-Allen said: "There is no way that £1.8bn can be found by merging councils without ravaging the services local people most value to find savings."

The leaders of Suffolk's five district councils argue that one unitary would be too big, and cite new DCN research which showed "there's absolutely no correlation between population size and the performance or financial stability of unitary councils".

The Green leader of Babergh District Council Deborah Saw said: "The key to local government is in the word 'local'.

"This is why we strongly believe two or three unitary councils will deliver the best for Suffolk's communities.

"There is simply no evidence that bigger councils give you better services."

Each council will be deciding on their interim plans and submitting them by the government's deadline of 21 March.

The plans will be reviewed and negotiations amongst all councils will continue until final plans will be put forward in September.

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