Local Service delivery for residents is key to future shape of Local Government
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s Cabinet has pledged to continue to champion services delivered locally to residents as part of submissions on Local Government Reorganisation.
Government proposals include abolishing borough and county councils in favour of single-tier unitary bodies, and also separately creating region-wide strategic authorities.
Further submissions must be made to central Government by November.
Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said:
This proposed reorganisation is being forced upon us by the Government.
Full Council has agreed that we will continue making the case that the Borough Council is already delivering good, cost-effective services, accountable at a local level and that forced change will not improve our residents’ lives.
However, we expect feedback from Government imminently and will need to have our options developed if we are forced to become a unitary council.”
Options put forward in the Interim Plan included:
- a single authority on the current Newcastle boundaries, which would be the council’s preferred option;
- a single authority on the existing boundaries of Newcastle and the adjoining Staffordshire Moorlands.
The Borough Council is positive towards the creation of a Strategic Authority spanning Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, and which could also include neighbouring areas if there are good arguments for their inclusion.
Simon Tagg added:
There are two separate issues here. We think the creation of a Strategic Authority looking at transport, investment, infrastructure and how we integrate climate change and sustainability for the whole region make sense, because it could devolve funding and practical powers to Staffordshire from London.
Clearly the case for the Strategic Authority to have an Elected Mayor has not been made, and given experiences of elected mayors locally, would not be seen as a positive step.
However, Strategic Authorities will not be responsible for delivering day-to-day services such as collecting the bins and at a local level there is no demand - and no convincing argument - to rip up the existing system of local government.”