By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Gloucester’s current Labour MP Alex McIntyre and his Conservative predecessor Richard Graham are at odds over whether or not the county should be split into two unitary councils.
The Government unveiled plans in December to shake-up local government across England.
Ministers say the English Devolution White Paper will give more powers to local government.
But it would also see the creation of more unitary councils which, in Gloucestershire, would mean district councils would be merged with the County Council.
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 is currently a two-tier area where local government responsibilities are split between the County Council and district councils.
The County Council wants Gloucestershire, with a population of around 659,276, to become a unitary authority.
But earlier this month, five of Gloucestershire’s seven MPs wrote to the Government expressing their own vision for devolution in the county.
The three Labour and two Liberal Democrats have proposed two unitary authorities for Gloucestershire – one in the west and one in the east.
They suggest West Gloucestershire would combine the Forest of Dean, Gloucester and Stroud. East Gloucestershire would include Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and the Cotswolds.
This suggestion has sparked opposition from Liberal Democrat Tewkesbury MP Cameron Thomas, who represents parts of Gloucester, and Conservative North Cotswold MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.
It has also triggered concerns among civic chiefs and former Gloucester MP Richard Graham that it would create ‘rich and poor councils’, increase costs and bureaucracy as well as alienating residents.
A petition has also been launched by Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Lib Dem leader to keep the county united.
Mr Graham said Gloucestershire is one of the best places on earth to live and he says the move to “tinker” with its local government boundaries is a “wake up call for everyone”.
“Some politicians are working to get rid of all your local councils – including the circa 1,500 year old Gloucester City Council and Gloucestershire County Council and create instead two new authorities: West Gloucestershire and East Gloucestershire.”
He said if this is accepted it would be a disaster for Gloucestershire. “They want to divide the county into two unitary slices: ‘West Gloucestershire’, once a name for the Forest of Dean constituency, would be the Forest, Stroud and Gloucester or the ‘poor’ part of the county.
“‘East Gloucestershire’ would be Cheltenham, Cotswolds and Tewkesbury districts or the ‘rich’ part. Just think this through.
“Instead of one fire and rescue service there would be two: instead of one adult service and one children’s service, two of each.
“Not one transport authority to sort out potholes and plan road infrastructure improvements across the county, but two.
“Ditto two local education authorities. And instead of one chief executive and leader for the county, two of each.
“Imagine the amount of time discussing whether a road will only be repaired or litter picked up within the boundary of East or West Gloucestershire or across both.
“So this would be an increase of bureaucracy, not a reduction: an increase both of cost, just think of the rebranding alone, and of distraction to the work local government should be doing for the people of our single county in splitting a single service and creating two instead.”
Mr McIntyre said it was really disappointing that the debate about devolution has turned into a discussion about “rich and poor” Gloucestershire.
He said the five MPs want an option that works best for Gloucestershire’s residents and does not create an authority which feels distant for the residents it represents.
“I’ve been particularly surprised to see my predecessor take this argument on given his previous championing of the city,” he said.
“In the past, Richard has rightly criticised people for talking Gloucester down, so I’m shocked to see him now suggesting that a council that includes Gloucester would be the poor relation.
“We want an option that works best for the people of the county, that doesn’t put them at a huge remove from the people in power. If we go with the one unitary option, we’ll have the third largest council in the entire country.
“However, as far as myself and Labour colleagues are concerned, we’re in listening mode and want to hear what local people think.
“We believe that the two unitary option that we’ve put forward, along with two of our Lib Dem colleagues, will work best for Gloucester and ensure that Gloucester is a key voice in the county.
“We need to focus on the opportunity that devolution is giving us, especially when it comes to inward investment in our city, instead of getting bogged down in unnecessary political posturing.”