By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
District council leaders in Gloucestershire are calling on the Government to reject a bid to delay this year’s county elections amid a “lack of meaningful discussions over devolution”.
The Government unveiled plans last month to shake-up local government across England.
Ministers say the English Devolution White Paper aims to give more powers to local governments.
And the government is looking at creating unitaries with a population of at least 500,000 and strategic authority areas with an elected mayor representing areas with around 1.5 million residents.
Gloucestershire, with a population of around 659,276, is currently a two-tier area where local government responsibilities are split between the County Council and the district councils of Cheltenham, Gloucester, Cotswolds, Forest of Dean, Stroud and Tewkesbury.
Shire Hall’s Conservative leader Stephen Davies has written to the Government expressing his administration ambition for a unitary council for the area.
He has also requested that this May’s elections be postponed until May 2026 to “deliver devolution for residents within the most ambitious timeframe”.
“We fully appreciate the democratic deficit agreeing this creates. However, these are unique circumstances created by the white paper,” he said in his letter to Local Government and English Devolution Minister Jim McMahon.
“The May election will cost around £825,000 and incur the additional cost of inducting a new council.
“This new council will be in place to effectively manage a time-bound council over a reduced term whilst a new unitary is created.
“A further election will then be run at a likely higher cost for a new council within two years. We believe this creates an even greater democratic deficit and value for money challenge.”
However, the leaders of Gloucester City, Cheltenham Borough, Cotswold, Forest of Dean and Stroud districts are opposed to the postponement and have also written to the minister.
The letter signed by Councillors Adrian Birch (G, Forest of Dean), Catherine Braun (G, Stroud), Joe Harris (LD, Cotswold), Rowena Hay (LD, Cheltenham) and Jeremy Hilton (Gloucester) says they welcome aspects of the white paper and are keen to see the devolution of powers.
But they say the county is not ready for delivering devolution quickly as the councils have yet to have any meaningful talks with one another and ask for the county elections to not be delayed.
“We are open to discussing options for simpler structures to enable the delivery of high-quality public services, and to exploring how we may combine with neighbouring authorities to deliver the strategic partnerships set out in the white paper.” the letter reads.
“However, Gloucestershire is not yet ready for delivering devolution on an accelerated timeframe. Gloucestershire’s District Councils and County Council have not yet had any meaningful discussions with each other, or potential partners, as to what the best form of Combined Strategic Authority for our place might be.
“Indeed, options in all compass directions are still on the table and potentially possible.Whichever Strategic Authority option we decide to pursue, local government reorganisation will not be needed as a pre-requisite.
“Gloucestershire’s District Councils and County Council have not yet had any meaningful discussions with each other about what form of local government reorganisation would work in the best interests of our residents, nor what parish, town and neighbourhood structures will be required.
“There have not yet been any council meetings or public consultations on the topic of local government reorganisation or the proposals in the white paper. Unlike other upper tier authorities, Gloucestershire County Council has chosen not to hold a Council meeting to seek the views of members on its request to you, to defer County Council elections by one year.
“It is clear that Gloucestershire is not yet ready to bring forward proposals to meet the ambitious timeline of the devolution priority programme, set out in the white paper. We therefore ask you to allow the Gloucestershire County Council elections to proceed this year as democratically required.
“This will allow the time required for local leaders to undertake initial engagement with our public sector partners, residents and businesses, to respond to the white paper proposals and to consider what structures would best deliver for our communities.”