I hadn’t expected to be writing on the subject of Local Government Reorganisation so soon, but recent events have changed those plans, with the Government announcing a pause while the entire process, except for in Surrey, is subject to review.
I actually welcome this, and I think more people will now they have recovered from the initial surprise. In pausing this, there is an important opportunity to consider the fundamentals. It also gives councils more time to prepare, should there still be a change. The breakneck nature of the timetable meant that any number of things were having to be arranged on very tight timescales.
It is also a chance for the Government to reflect on why they are doing this, specifically to consider if it really is going to deliver what they want it to. One issue we have had, (which is slightly antithetical to local government) is the direction has been ‘one size fits all’ and I don’t think that’s right. If it doesn’t realistically make the savings, costs a lot of money to achieve, creates units of local government that cover vast areas and doesn’t genuinely improve service delivery, then what is the benefit of it?
Perhaps where it does avoid those pitfalls and, just as importantly, there is a consensus locally to do it, go right ahead. But elsewhere, and I think Crawley and West Sussex might be one of these places, the difficulties with dividing it into areas that satisfy anyone and address the resource constraints may be too much to surmount.
There also remains the risk that a considerable amount of local government’s capacity, energy and bandwidth goes on reorganisation in the coming years that would have been otherwise spent on other priorities in our local areas, as well as helping implement much of the Government’s agenda.
I am strongly of the view however that the Mayoral elections for the combined authorities being created separately should not be delayed – it should still be full steam ahead with devolution as scheduled, not least because it makes a lot of sense. Getting strategic decisions made at a more local level than Whitehall, using their resources, will be far more effective.
It doesn’t need unitary authorities to be in existence either, we have an existing combined authority elsewhere in England that has two tier areas sitting beneath them without any real difficulty. Work out, if necessary, district and borough tier representation by calculating a per capita number to sit on the combined authority, using proportionality rules if required, and tell those council leaders that drive planning and housing in their areas to work it out between themselves. It’s not an insoluble problem and it’s an awful lot easier to achieve than dismantling and rearranging everything else instead.
During all of this, it is important to reassure our residents, your services will continue to be provided. Crawley Borough Council will carry on for as long as required. In this, and all things, we continue to work to secure the best outcome for Crawley.
Cllr Michael Jones
Leader, Crawley Borough Council