Devolution Diaries: Reorganisation Gets Political

Local Government Reorganisation is frequently mixed up with Devolution. While the two are running concurrently, they couldn’t be more different in their reception.

Devolution is, broadly speaking, welcomed with open arms at Town and County Halls across the country. By contrast, Local Government Reorganisation has predictably descended into highly political back and forths, with occasional public and bitter splits between councils and politicians.

Around these disputes there are a few themes emerging where councils in different areas find themselves falling out over the same points. Generally, disagreements stem from one of three areas:

• Geography
• Financial viability or debt
• Politics and identity

This is a problem. The same issue occurring across different areas suggest something about the process is developing conflict between the authorities which will very soon share an office and a logo.

The key bone of contention for several areas is how many authorities they will have once mergers are complete. The specifics differ by region, but generally the County Council will tend to favour fewer and larger authorities, whereas the districts and boroughs below them will tend to favour more and smaller authorities.

A difference of opinion on this matter is quite fundamental, and it sets authorities apart quite early in the process. Such has been the case in Surrey, where the County Council and Districts/Boroughs ultimately submitted different plans and made public accusations against each other, including that either party had misled residents. In Surrey this divide crossed party lines, with Conservative-led authorities on both sides.

This story has repeated in other areas, with Hampshire and Sussex recently having similar political issues. The split isn’t just in Conservative counties either, in Oxfordshire the Liberal Democrat County Council publicly favours different options to West Oxfordshire, which is also run by the Liberal Democrats.

Longer term, the challenge will be when these authorities, both officers and members, sit as one. In just three years, these groups will need to sit together and run much larger authorities. No easy task when divisions run within political parties!

There will be an opportunity to iron out these divisions and create cohesive groups during the one-year Shadow Authority period. Taking advantage of this window will be a key priority for the Leaders of the new unitary authorities and their Chief Executives as they set up functioning councils. We’ll be watching this space as the first new unitary authorities start to come together.

If you’d like to talk about Local Government Reorganisation or Devolution, or understand how they will impact your work, drop us a line here.