By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
It is inconceivable that Gloucester, a city with 2,000 years of history, should no longer have its own council.
That is the view of Gloucester City Council leader Jeremy Hilton (Kingsholm and Wotton) who says his Liberal Democrat administration at North Warehouse will oppose proposals which would see the authority abolished.
The Government unveiled plans yesterday to shake-up local government across England. Ministers say the English Devolution White Paper aims to give more powers to local government.
But it also proposes creating more unitary councils which, in Gloucestershire, would mean district councils such as the City Council would be abolished.
Gloucestershire is currently a two-tier area where local government responsibilities are split between the County Council and district councils.
Gloucestershire County Council provides services which cover the whole county such as highways, education, waste disposal, transport, as well as adult and children’s social care.
While district councils such as Gloucester City are responsible for bin collections, environmental health, leisure facilities, planning and building control.
The Government says unitaries, where one council has all the above responsibilities, can lead to better outcomes for residents, save money and improve accountability with fewer politicians.
Ministers say for most areas this will mean creating councils with a population of 500,000 or more, but there may be exceptions to ensure new structures make sense for an area, including for devolution, and decisions will be on a case-by-case basis.
But Cllr Hilton fears if Gloucester, with a population of around 132,000, is consumed into a large unitary authority “attention to detail will just disappear overnight”.
“We believe that Gloucester should be retained,” he said. “It’s inconceivable that Gloucester, a city with 2000 years of history, should no longer have its own local council.
“It would mean the important work that’s being done at the moment to develop opportunities for more housing, to create an even better environment in the city center and to continue with the regeneration work that’s been going on year after year, would not continue.
“If Gloucester gets consumed into a massive unitary authority the attention to detail will just disappear overnight.
“I’ve sat on both the City Council and the County Council, and I’ve experienced the importance of the work that the County Council does, and also the work Gloucester City Council does.
“And I say, it’s inconceivable that people suggest that the local authority be scrapped. We need to look at the propsals in detail, as an administration at the City Council.
“And then we’ll consider whether there are any plans for the future that we could support. But really, it’s just early days.
“Some people are trying to rush others into making decisions and following like sheep. Well, the one thing I won’t do as leader of Gloucester City Council is to follow like sheep.
“I’ll make sure that whenever we make a decision, on which way we go, that it is fully considered.”