Government feedback on Stratford and Warwick’s plans for new unitary council will be confidential

By Andy Mitchell

Local Democracy Reporter

COUNCILS in Warwickshire have been told to expect government feedback on merger plans at the end of April – but the documents will be confidential.

Warwickshire is one of 21 two-tier areas where the majority of council services are divided between a county council with district and borough councils underneath.

Other places, including bigger cities, have unitary authorities where all such services are dealt with under one roof. The government wants that rolled out across the board.

It means all six county, district and borough councils in Warwickshire will be abolished with Warwickshire County Council making the case for one new county-wide authority, while all five of the districts and boroughs have united to commission work to explore forming two unitaries, one covering North Warwickshire, Nuneaton & Bedworth, Rugby and another for Warwick and Stratford districts.

The two interim proposals were submitted to the government last month with details to be worked on ahead of final submissions by November 28 but little has been said on how things will progress until now.

Stratford District Council chief executive David Buckland provided an update to councillors on his authority’s overview and scrutiny panel this week, stating that initial feedback was set to arrive “late in the week commencing 28th April”.

He noted that everyone connected with all six councils would “be rather busy on (Friday) 2nd May” as that is the day of the county council election count so anticipated it may actually arrive, or get fully considered, “early the following week”.

He added: “Interestingly, MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) has said it will not be publishing that information, it will be confidential to the councils when they receive it.

“We will have a single piece of feedback for the area, we won’t have (individual) feedback on the county council’s submission and our submission.”

For now, Deloitte’s will continue to work on plans for the best way forward for the five districts and boroughs.

“We had initially expected their work to underpin the interim plan but when the government confirmed it would be nothing more than light touch, a progress check, we gave Deloitte’s further time,” added Mr Buckland.

“That will now be used to help inform the proposals that we put forward, it will form part of the evidence base at a later point.”

Mr Buckland also referenced a £7.6 million government fund to help councils across the 21 areas with their submissions but said no detail has been offered over which authorities will benefit.

“It won’t be a lot of money, though,” he said.

Committee chair Cllr Andy Crump (Southam East, Central & Stockton), who also serves on the Conservative cabinet that runs Warwickshire County Council, made the case for more clarity from the government.

“Again, it seems to be lacking in detail, particularly on the financial side,” he said.

“It would have been good to know how that £7.6 million is going to be allocated. I am not surprised by the lack of detail but once we have got through the election period, that would be good to see.”

Extraordinary meetings to discuss and take decisions on the final submissions have already been pencilled in by Stratford.

The overview and scrutiny panel is set to look at it on Wednesday, 5th November ahead of the cabinet – the Liberal Democrat group of councillors in charge of major service areas – voting on its recommended option on Monday, November 10. All councillors will then get their say on Monday, 17th November.

Those dates are subject to confirmation at the first meeting of the new council year on Wednesday, 14th May.