There are serious concerns that splitting Gloucestershire between east and west would “create a poor council and rich one” while adding unnecessary costs to the taxpayer and complexities for residents. The Government unveiled plans last month 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 would be abolished.
Gloucestershire is currently a two-tier area where local government responsibilities are split between the County Council and district councils. And Shire Hall leaders want a unitary council for the whole of Gloucestershire but five of the county’s seven MPs signed a joint letter last week outlining their vision for the county to be split into east and west.
The three Labour and two Liberal Democrats propose the creation of two unitary authorities. They suggest West Gloucestershire would combine the district councils in the Forest of Dean, Gloucester and Stroud. While an East Gloucestershire authority would include Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and the Cotswolds.
The letter to Jim McMahon, Minister of State was signed by Labour MPs Matt Bishop, (Forest of Dean), Simon Opher (Stroud) and Alex McIntyre (Gloucester) along with Liberal Democrat Roz Savage (South Cotswolds) and Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham). However, Liberal Democrat MP for Tewkesbury Cameron Thomas and Conservative North Cotswolds MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown are strongly opposed to the idea.
Both MPs are of the view that a single unitary council would be in Gloucestershire’s best interests. This is in line with Gloucestershire County Council’s ambition which Shire Hall’s Conservative leader Stephen Davies (Severn and Hardwicke) expressed in writing to the Government last week.
Tewkesbury’s Liberal Democrat MP Cameron Thomas and Conservative North Cotswolds MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown believe a single unitary council for Gloucestershire would be in the county’s best interests. They are strongly opposed to the idea of splitting Gloucestershire in two.
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Sir Geoffrey said the white paper does not allow for the status quo to continue and the County Council has had to work at some speed to determine what was the best future for Gloucestershire. “I agree with their decision that Gloucestershire should have one unitary authority which would be a combination of the county council and six district councils having a responsibility to provide all the services that these councils deliver,” he said.
“However, I profoundly disagree with my other five colleagues in Gloucestershire that we should have two unitary authorities for the county. I think that would deliver the worst of all worlds by removing the localism that district councils currently provide but not being big enough to provide the economies of scale that one unitary authority would offer.”
Cabinet endorsed Cllr Davies’ letter to the minister which states the County Council is committed to “creating a single unitary authority for our population of 659,000 meeting the Government’s criteria of a population threshold over 500,000”.
The County Council wishes to proceed with this while developing devolution plans to ensure Gloucestershire is best placed to deliver economic growth at pace. Cllr Davies said the idea put forward by the five MPs was “wrong on all levels” and would effectively create a “poor and a rich Gloucestershire”.
“The first thing is nobody ever woke up feeling they were living in East or West Gloucestershire,” he said. “The second point is the Government is very clear they want 500,000 per unitary. If you split Gloucestershire in half that’s only 300,000 and something each.
“Then there’s the costs, you’d have two chief executives, a director of children services, highways, adult social care, you would be duplicating costs. You would be splitting the fire service in two, this is expensive and you have to ask what is the benefit.
Gloucestershire County Council’s Conservative leader Stephen Davies
“The third point, which is the moral reason, clearly what they are proposing Forest of Dean, Gloucester and Stroud which would encompass most of those areas which are deprived while then you would collect together Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and the Cotswolds which would have a higher tax bases, business rates in those areas.
“You are effectively creating a poor and a rich Gloucestershire. I think it’s wrong on all levels.”
Cameron Thomas, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tewkesbury, said he does not like the sound of the proposals to split the county in two. He said he has heard and agrees with concerns it would create a poor and rich divide in terms of councils in the county.
“The bottom line for me is people find the way they are represented to be really unnecessarily complex,” the Tewkesbury MP said. “At the moment you’ve got parish council, borough, county council, most residents who do not engage in politics don’t understand the difference, they just want to pay their council tax and get their services, and rightly so.
“On top of that, in the Tewkesbury constituency, I’ve got people in Gloucester and Cheltenham not in Tewkesbury Borough. I would rather simplify this, removing the district councils and giving their assets to a unitary council at county level will do that.
“But not if you then split the county. Let’s just keep Gloucestershire together, nobody associates with East or West Gloucestershire.”
There are also serious concerns among County and Borough Councillors in Tewkesbury. Tewkebury Borough Council’s Liberal Democrat leader Richard Stanley (Cleeve West) is among those who believe plans to split the county in two would weaken Gloucestershire’s voice.
Tewkesbury Borough Council leader Richard Stanley believes trying to carve Gloucestershire up like a cake is a recipe for disaster.
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He also fears the proposals are a recipe for disaster and there is no mandate to break the county up. “The proposal to break our county in half has not been properly thought through. Gloucestershire is a county with a shared identity, dividing our county risks leaving communities feeling disconnected and isolated and makes accessing services needlessly more complicated,” he said.
“As a united Gloucestershire we have a stronger voice and a greater influence to help deliver the positive changes people are crying out for. Trying to carve Gloucestershire up like a cake is a recipe for disaster.
“There will be significant cost and disruption and no obvious benefits. I believe residents and businesses want councillors and MPs to get on with the job of delivering services and investment. No one has voted for the break up of Gloucestershire, there is no mandate for a county break up.”
And his Lib Dem colleague and Churchdown County Councillor Ben Evans also believes splitting the county in two would create an “unnecessary nightmare” particularly for his constituents. “If Gloucestershire has to go to a unitary authority, then it has to be one Council for the whole County,” he said.
“I represent Churchdown, and for the people who live in places like Brockworth and Churchdown, splitting the County up would be an unnecessary nightmare. There would be arbitrary boundaries splitting communities street by street, and people who live in Coopers Edge know the difficulties that can bring!
“There are also practical reasons for keeping Gloucestershire whole. Taxpayers don’t want the cost of two chief executives, two directors of children’s services and so on. And the practicalities of having two lots of adult social care working across a made-up boundary whilst working with county-wide colleagues in health and the police… it’s just silly, frankly.”