By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
The “shameful” and “undemocratic” Government-mandated council shake-up in Gloucestershire has been slammed by Green Party civic chiefs in Stroud.
Stroud District Council backed the creation of a single unitary authority as the least bad option on offer for the county.
The Government wants to do away with two-tier authority areas such as Gloucestershire.
And the plans would see districts such as Stroud merge with the County Council for the creation of one or two unitary authorities providing all of the services.
Ministers say this will simplify local government in England and the savings could be reinvested in stronger councils.
But the whole local government reorganisation process is seen as a “threat to local democracy” by Green Party councillors in Stroud.
Councils across Gloucestershire have been working on three plans. A single unitary across the area represented by the County Council, two unitaries with one in the East and one in the West and another which would see the creation of a Greater Gloucester authority and a separate Gloucestershire unitary.
Stroud District Council voted on November 20 to put forward the single unitary council option for for consideration.
The overall vote was 27 in favour of the single unitary option, while 15 were in favour of a two-unitary model, which would see the County split into West (Forest of Dean, Gloucester and Stroud) and East (Cheltenham, Cotswold and Tewkesbury).
There were no votes for the Greater Gloucester model, often referred to as the ‘doughnut’.
Many councillors mentioned the huge decrease in democratic representation for communities, their concern at the rushed process and the lack of consultation from the government.
However, none abstained or voted for ‘none of the above’, feeling they had to choose one of the two main options, though many said they were doing so reluctantly.
Green group leader Chloe Turner (Minchinhampton), who leads the authority at Ebley Mill, said after the meeting: “We had no choice but to take part in the vote on these proposals but we were in the invidious position of having to vote on something we fundamentally disagree with.
“Greens have always argued that LGR is unnecessary, costly, wasn’t asked for and won’t benefit residents. All the options offered pose a threat to local democracy by moving decision-making powers away from local people.”
She pointed out that the move to unitary authorities will reduce by two-thirds the number of councillors across the county from 295 to 110.
“Gloucestershire already has one of the highest ratios of residents to elective representatives in Europe. Reducing this further is undemocratic,” she added.
“The creation of larger, more centralised unitary authorities goes against the fundamental principle that decisions should be made as close as possible to the people they affect.”
And Painswick Cllr Gary Luff (G, Painswick) said the whole LGR project was “bonkers” and hadn’t even been mentioned in Labour’s manifesto.
“It’s shameful that this has been foisted on us without consultation. The timeline for the councils to decide on their preferred unitary option meant that there was no opportunity for meaningful consultation with residents.”
The 24-strong Green group, though not whipped, all voted for the one-unitary option, seeing it as the least-worst option in what they believe is an unnecessary reorganisation being forced through by the Labour government with little consultation.
Almost all the Labour councillors voted to split the county into two, despite evidence that the disruption to services would harm local people and that a West Gloucestershire Council would be financially unviable.
Deputy leader Catherine Braun (Wotton) said the proposal to split county services would cause “confusion, disruption, and chaos”, and would be “irresponsible and reckless”.
With the weaker financial position for a West Gloucestershire Council it would lead to “damaging cuts in services that would particularly affect the most vulnerable residents”.
And Cllr Martin Brown (G, Bisley) noted that all Gloucestershire’s stakeholder groups – teachers, GPs, colleges, police, voluntary, faith and business sector leaders – were clear in their preference
for a single unitary council for the county.
“It’s hard to find anyone outside politics who favours splitting the county in two. It would have a disproportionately negative impact on service users.”
Cllr Pete Kennedy (G, Painswick) said a two-council split would be a “reckless gamble” that would create a “rich Gloucestershire, poor Gloucestershire” scenario and lead to “huge” cuts to fill a £23million black hole in West Gloucestershire, with the costs of adult social care is more than 50 per cent higher than in the East of the county.
“Leisure centres, free parking and council tax reductions for the poorest could all be lost.”
Cllr Turner concluded: “Whatever the outcome, Green councillors will continue to ensure that the needs of local residents are heard and prioritised, both during the transition phase and in the new council structure.”
However, Labour councillors say they see local government reorganisation as a “golden opportunity to improve services for residents, create opportunity and improve efficiency”.
This involves condensing district, borough and city and county councils into unitary authorities.
Parish and town councils would continue to exist and unitary councils would ultimately join regional strategic authorities like the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) with increased devolved powers and resources, led by a directly-elected mayor.
Labour group leader Katy Hofmann (L, Rodborough) said her group backed the option of having two smaller unitary authorities with one in the East and another in the West.
“The west of the county is very different from the east, and not just culturally,” she said.
“The industrial and trading heritage of Stroud, Gloucester and the Forest of Dean give the west a vibrancy that’s absent from the leafy Cotswold towns like Bibury and Moreton-in-Marsh.
“The west is home to some of the most deprived areas in the country with some of the country’s most affluent in the east.
“These communities desperately need a progressive political leadership focussed on improving their economic, education, health and wellbeing prospects.
“We also need to consider which strategic authority we’d ultimately join. WECA is the obvious and most natural fit, but with going on for 700,000 residents, a single Gloucestershire-wide unitary authority would be too big and unwieldy to be welcomed into WECA, leaving our future at best uncertain, at worst lumped in with the counties further north. If being close to where decisions are taken is as important Green councillors suggest, surely reorganising into two smaller unitary authorities makes more sense?
“I worry that if the Greens get their way, the county will be condemned to more of the same. Decades of failure for local people.
“Failure for education, for social care, for health and for economic prosperity. A generation of missed opportunity.
“Thankfully, the Secretary of State will make the final decision after a full stakeholder consultation, which I’d encourage people to engage with when it’s launched.”