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Pages 4-5 of the Little Book:
You would be hard pressed to find anyone who can provide a compelling reason for reorganising local government into large unitary authorities. It is a process of centralisation that goes against every proven benefit of keeping local government close to its roots.
Yet central government is determined to go against the evidence.
Plans are in motion to scrap Essex County Council and merge the 14 districts and existing unitaries into a small number of unitary authorities. Uttlesford as we know it will vanish by 2028, a casualty of reorganisation being sold to us as “devolution” and “empowerment”. Each unitary will swallow up the duties of the districts it absorbs, plus those of the county council. An elected Mayor of Essex and a strategic authority will oversee police, fire, transport and some other functions.
If you truly want to empower local people you would not do it this way. History shows the bigger the authority, the weaker the link between residents and their representatives and the more likely voting will align with national parties. So much for local democracy!
What’s more, this reorganisation will be eye-wateringly expensive; and while Govt is calling the shots they have said nothing about paying for it. That may well fall on council tax payers.
TWO SIMPLE QUESTIONS. ANSWERED
Q. Is being a unitary an assurance of financial viability?
No. There are 15 unitaries that have issued section 114 notices or had capitalisation directions in the past three years, ranging from one of the smallest (Kensington & Chelsea) to the largest, Birmingham.
Q. Is greater size an assurance of improved services?
No. If anything, it is those at the mid and lower end of the size scale who score better.
RESEARCH & EVIDENCE
A 2020 report by De Montfort University is not alone in saying “the case for centralising local government is based on arguments that are demonstrably false when looking at the genuinely independent academic evidence.” This report was updated in 2022 read it here
EARLIER POSTS ON GOVERNANCE AND LOCAL DEMOCRACY:
Uttlesford’s chief executive, Peter Holt, exposes the fallacy that size matters. Quality of performance has no correlation to size –
Is Bigger Better?
A summary of the 2022 House of Commons report which is highly critical of the centralised nature of government in England –
Our 2022 look at local democracy including the example of Salisbury, which had many of its functions centralised away from the city when Wiltshire became a unitary authority –
Back in 2021 we were warning about the disappearance of district councils –