A MASSIVE row over the future of local government in Warwickshire erupted this week in the wake of Whitehall’s plans to radically reorganise councils in England.
In the midst of fears about the threat to local democracy and complaints about the high-handedness of Warwickshire County Council, four local authorities in the county are asking the government to block plans to postpone this year’s county council elections.
The Conservative-led county council wants the government to put a stop on the scheduled 2025 elections in May while crucial discussions take place about abolishing the district and borough councils in the county and creating a new super unitary authority.
Council leaders Susan Juned and Izzi Seccombe
But the districts of Stratford and Warwick, together with the boroughs of North Warwickshire and Nuneaton and Bedworth, have come out strongly against any idea of postponing the forthcoming county council elections while talks about the future of local government are under way.
The councils state: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to review the local government structures within our area and, in our opinion, we owe it to our residents, communities, businesses and staff to ensure that this be considered properly.”
The deadline for submissions in the so-called “first wave” of proposals being put forward by the local authorities to the government is tomorrow (Friday), when a meeting at Shire Hall will also debate the issue. Warwickshire County Council is asking for an election postponement. Four of the county’s five district and borough councils are saying “No”. (The other council in the county, the borough of Rugby, has declined to join them in this demand.)
In its White Paper on English Devolution published on 16th December, the government indicated that it would consider postponing local elections in May 2025 where this would either help “unlock devolution arrangements”
or where the area was included in the “Devolution Priority Programme”.
But in a joint statement, the councils said they did not believe that either of these situations was relevant to Warwickshire.
The statement said that the county council informed the other councils at a meeting on 19th December – “just three days after the publication of the White Paper” – that a submission would be made from the county council to the government by 10th January.
“The submission will not only be seeking the deferral of the scheduled May 2025 elections but will also propose without any debate with the district and borough councils that a single Warwickshire unitary authority be formed as soon as possible and that when formed this authority would then become a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority,” said the statement.
But the councils question whether a Warwickshire unitary authority would be allowed to join the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), judging by recent comments from West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker, who is reported to have said he did not envisage the boundaries of the WMCA being extended to include Warwickshire.
Stratford District Council.
In a letter to Cllr Izzi Seccombe (Cons, Stour and the Vale), the leader of Warwickshire County Council, the councils have asked her to withhold her request for a deferral of this year’s county elections.
“Instead, we would wish to urgently enter meaningful, collaborative and constructive discussions with the existing principal authorities within the county of Warwickshire to help properly consider the options that exist,” the letter adds.
Crucially, the councils state: “If the county council do proceed with their planned submission, then we will be making it clear to the minister of state for local government and English devolution that we do not support the proposal from the county council.”
Before the councils’ statement this week Cllr Seccombe made it clear, in an interview with the Herald, that she favoured pursuing the idea of creating one single authority to serve the county’s needs.
Cllr Seccombe added; “We’ve got a business case sitting there already. I have sent a business case to the various secretaries of state. It went through our council and it was agreed. It’s not new news. It’s old news.”
And she declared: “I would invite all my elected colleagues to be part of the future. Nothing stays in aspic. If it does, it’s not serving the interests of the residents.”
Confirming that she will be asking the government for an election delay, with Warwickshire hopefully in the first wave of this huge reorganisation of local government, Cllr Seccombe stressed the importance of the county getting in early. “We would rather be shaping our future than allowing the government to shape it,” she said.
But an indication of the huge gulf between the county council and the district and borough councils was given to the Herald this week by Cllr Susan Juned (Lib Dem, Alcester East), the leader of Stratford District Council.
She said that the pre-Christmas meeting about the government’s devolution proposals between the county council and the other councils was supposed to be consultative.
“The meeting proved to be anything but consultative,” she said. “There was a deep sense of frustration shown by other council leaders at the lack of any partnership involvement – a complete disregard for any constructive input and the dominance of the Warwickshire County Council view.”
She said the government’s criteria for allowing a postponement of this year’s elections included expectations that all councils in an area should “work together to develop unitary proposals”, that they should take a “proactive and innovative approach to neighbourhood involvement and community governance so that citizens feel empowered” while “strengthening expectations on engagement and community voice”.
Cllr Juned added: “None of these expectations were discussed and I do not think Warwickshire County Council is anywhere near to taking an approach that would develop the required partnership and community engagement.”
Meanwhile, fears about the effect of the government’s proposals on local democracy have been voiced in a letter to the Herald by Dr Trevor Harvey, a Conservative who formerly represented Tredington on Stratford District Council and was portfolio holder for resources from 2019 to 2023.
He writes: “Whilst an ambition of ‘a more efficient state’ is laudable, the prospect of trying to integrate six organisations into a single coherent machine in the face of different organisational cultures, different IT systems, different working practices and different departmental structures is a huge challenge that will take years to deliver.
“The creation of a unitary Warwickshire Council will damage local democracy and lead to regionally focused government with increased cost for residents .
“It will condemn the organisations involved, their leaders and their staffs, to look inwards as they struggle with the upheaval and yet continue to deliver local services for residents. Be careful what you wish for – it doesn’t have to be like this.”
Significantly, Dr Harvey says that a unitary council will almost inevitably cost the Stratford district’s residents more in council tax.
He points out that a typical Band D council taxpayer in the Stratford district faces a charge of £159.12 a year – the lowest in Warwickshire – but in Nuneaton and Bedworth the corresponding charge is £263.59 a year.
Dr Harvey adds: “Stratford district’s residents will share the risk of paying for the borrowings of other district councils. Stratford district has no external borrowings. Warwick district alone, for example, has an estimated capital financing requirement for this year of more than £400 million.
“The new unitary authority will inherit the obligations of its constituent councils. Stratford district residents will be exposed to the risks associated with the borrowing of others.”
County, district and borough councillors are set to address Cllr Seccombe about the plans at a public meeting tomorrow (Friday) at noon at Shire Hall.