Cheltenham Borough Council and Cotswold District Council are supporting the proposal and five MPs in the county have already written to the Minister backing a two unitary preference.
Councils are preparing to submit a proposal for two councils to be created in Gloucestershire. The proposals, which are in response to the government’s call for local government reorganisation as part of their Devolution White Paper, will be submitted on Friday 21 March.
The plan proposes two councils that are built on the identity of local places – Gloucester, Forest and the Stroud Valleys Council in the West on the current footprint of Gloucester City, Stroud District and Forest of Dean Councils and Cheltenham and Cotswolds Council in the East, comprising the current footprint of Cheltenham Borough, Tewkesbury Borough and Cotswold District Councils. Gloucestershire County Council would be dissolved, and the services currently delivered by them would be divided across the two new councils.
Cheltenham Borough Council and Cotswold District Council are supporting the proposal and five MPs in the county have already written to the Minister backing a two unitary preference.
The two-unitary council plan also requests that Gloucestershire’s two authorities become part of the West of England Combined Authority, a move that is supported by many councils in the county.
The two councils will both have populations well over 300,000 creating a blend between economy of scale, ability to withstand financial shocks and locality-based service delivery.
Gloucestershire is unique in having two urban settlements with populations of over 118,000, sitting in a county population of circa 660,000. It is right that both Gloucester and Cheltenham each sit in their own unitary council each surrounded by rural market towns and communities.
Councillor Rowena Hay, Leader of Cheltenham Borough Council and Councillor Joe Harris, Leader of Cotswold District Council have released a joint statement on the proposal:
“The last time that Gloucestershire went through reorganisation of local government was in 1974. We must not miss this opportunity to make sure local council services are right for local people. We strongly believe that having two councils will ensure we can make taxpayers money go further while delivering services that will meet the needs of our communities and take the pressure off health and care services in the long term”
“Gloucestershire is a collection of unique places and identities that make us who we are. They are vital in driving our economy, creating jobs and prosperity. Our plan will allow each council to specialise and focus on developing their own strengths – creating a green energy supercluster in the west around Berkeley and Oldbury and a technology supercluster in the east surrounding GCHQ and the Golden Valley Development.
“We also have rural towns and communities that sit in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and who play a vital role in our visitor economy. Two councils will be able to better represent these communities with decisions being made closer to them and with a better balance of the existing town and parish council network.
“As a county, we face significant challenges ahead, not least that we have a population that is getting older which will put unsustainable pressure on our already fragile care and health system. The days of a county-wide, one size fits all council is outdated and will only result in our residents being shortchanged and feeling like a number in a system. What we need are locality-based services that are devised and designed by the people we serve. And if we do that, we can prevent more people needing acute care saving the NHS millions.
Max Wilkinson MP for Cheltenham said:
“I am pleased to see that a bold, creative and ambitious plan is emerging to bring greater prosperity to our area. Cheltenham people and residents across the county deserve better than having powers taken further away from them in a reorganisation that places all the newly created power in a big new unitary council and regional mayor – that’s the opposite of what I understand as devolution. If we get this right, two new unitary councils working alongside a regional mayor and properly empowered town and parish councils can place power and accountability closer to communities. That’s exactly what I want to see. There’s no easy answer to the question about which region we should join and in an ideal world devolution would look very different to the government’s chosen model. But if we must have a regional mayor then at the moment the most logical thing to do seems to be joining the West of England Combined Authority rather than an uncertain deal involving areas in the West Midlands or eastwards.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Key Questions
Two unitary authorities will not meet the 500k population threshold set by the government, why should Gloucestershire be given an exception?
No county unitary has been created that has two nationally significant conurbations within it of the size of Gloucester and Cheltenham. Therefore, each unitary should have Gloucester and Cheltenham respectively as the economic driver.
Implementing a parish council model for Gloucester and Cheltenham is not sufficient or effective.
The government has consistently recognised the importance of towns and cities in the creation of unitary authorities. With the recent creation of North Yorkshire Council, the government chose to retain the unitary of the City of York setting recent precedence for importance of towns and cities.
The population ratios of two unitary authorities will better align with the existing populations of the local authorities in WECA.
WECA council populations:
|
Council
|
Est. Population
|
|
Bath and NE Somerset
|
190,000
|
|
South Gloucestershire
|
290,000
|
|
Bristol
|
483,000
Total: 963,000
|
|
Potential expansion of WECA:
|
|
|
Gloucester, Forest and the Stroud Valleys
|
349,000 (rising to 379,000 by 2040)
|
|
Cheltenham and Cotswolds
|
311,000 (rising to 358,000 by 2040)
|
|
North Somerset
|
219,000
|
|
|
Expanded total: 1.8m
|
Will two unitary authorities deliver value for money and better services?
Yes. A two unitary model can both deliver savings, reducing waste but by using existing partnership and collaboration arrangements we can use flexible service delivery models to deliver locality-based service that better meet need and help to improve prevention which will reduce costs to the NHS.
Will two unitary authorities risk splitting the M5 economic corridor?
No. Manchester combined authority has a successful track record in driving growth and investment and Manchester’s council boundaries cut right across the city centre. Two unitary authorities will not limit but enhance growth
Will two unitary authoroties result in all services being disaggregated?
No. Councils in Gloucestershire already have well-established partnership and mature service delivery models which include county-wide council owned companies that deliver services at scale and represent value for money. This creates a natural competitive advantage in Gloucestershire which will allow a two unitary model to take a flexible approach to ensure that economies of scale will be retained where they are effective but reformed where they need to deliver better outcomes and results.
Will splitting adults and children’s services place them at risk?
No. There are recent examples where adults and children’s services have been split successfully – Dorset and Cumbria being two recent examples. Both children’s and care services have been assessed as requiring improvement. Implementing a new model will aim to improve services and outcomes for children and young people.
Will splitting Gloucestershire create a rich half and a poor half?
No. There will not be a significant difference in the council tax collection between the west half and the east half – less than 2.2% of total tax take. In addition, by 2040 it is projected that there will be circa 109,000 people over the age of 65 in the eastern unitary, compared to 91,000 in the western unitary creating a higher demand on care services unless successful intervention and prevention can be implemented. By 2040 there will be circa 64,000 young people age 0-19 in the eastern unitary and 68,000 in the western unitary.
Will there be boundary changes?
No. we will use the existing building blocks of district boundaries as partnership arrangements can overcome any boundary issues. However, the two unitary model would in the future provide an opportunity for further strengthening of local identities, by welcoming a review from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England to ensure that through consultation and engagement, areas are aligned to the council which provides the strongest local connection.
For interviews or enquiries:
Cheltenham Borough Council communications, email [email protected] or telephone 01242 264231
