The leader of Rutland County Council says she has had informal chats with the leader of neighbouring South Kesteven District Council about local government reorganisation.
Council leaders across the country have been having meetings and speculative phone calls for weeks following the Labour government publishing the white paper on devolution for England, which sets out proposals to shake up local government and pass more power down to local areas through strategic combined authorities.
Rutland County Council leader Gale Waller
Leader of Rutland County Council Gale Waller (Lib Dem) told the Local Democracy Reporting Service yesterday that she had been having early informal chats with the leader of South Kesteven District Council Ashley Baxter.
She said there had been a conversation before Christmas and another this week, but her understanding from the white paper was that reorganisation had to be along health and policing boundaries, and so had advised the SKDC leader to check with the central government what may be possible.
The two councils share a border and many residents live and work between the two counties, but they have a different police service – Rutland is served by Leicestershire and the South Kesteven council area is served by Lincolnshire.
The two council areas on their own would not cover a wide enough population, so any alliance would most likely need to take in more councils.
Coun Baxter has been contacted for comment.
Coun Waller, who has been in charge of the political administration in Rutland since the 2022 elections, said she had also had been talking to the leader of North Northamptonshire Coun Jason Smithers, but he had told her his preference was for a South Midlands Partnership – with councils from Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes. However the Northamptonshire councils look to have been cut out of a South Midlands deal, so there could be a possibility there.
The most logical organisation for Rutland would be with Leicestershire councils as they share services in most areas and are aligned. However what form that could take is up in the air. One option could be a donut type model, with the city around forming one unitary with a second unitary formed of the rest of Leicestershire and Rutlands that sit on the outskirts of the city. Another option could be two unitaries split across North and South boundaries.
Asked why she had not consulted with the wider public or council, she said councillors were being kept up to date with briefings and a public meeting and consultation would be held when there was something more concrete to discuss.
The Conservative MP for Rutland and Stamford Alicia Kearns is holding a meeting at Victoria Hall in Oakham on January 27 at 6pm so she can gauge public opinion about local government changes.