West Norfolk Council leader Alistair Beales says residents ‘must lie at the heart of any debate’ following proposals for three unitary authorities
West Norfolk Council leader Alistair Beales has said that residents’ interests “must lie at the heart of any debate” following proposals for three unitary authorities.
A report commissioned by the seven district councils in Norfolk has been published today outlining ideas to put to the Government, in response to its instruction for the districts and county council to be abolished and reorganised.
Consultancy company Deloitte was tasked with the job and, after analysing a “wealth of evidence”, has argued that three unitaries would provide the best mix of services, access and value.
The report considered multiple needs for the county, including ensuring that the districts could preserve their identities, have access to services and find the best options for those services to be delivered.
Cllr Beales said: “My starting point and my finishing point is what is best for our communities - that must lie at the heart of any debate about local government reorganisation.
“I know questions have been raised over whether reorganisation is a good idea in principle but that is now a redundant point.
“We have been told by the Government to reorganise so our priority is to get the best deal we can.
“Obviously I have the interests of West Norfolk in my mind, but this is also about how the interests of all of the communities across Norfolk can best be served.
“The people who live and work in this area are its foundation and they must come first.”
All of the districts will discuss the idea before submitting a proposal to the Government later this month, and West Norfolk Council will debate it at panels on Tuesday, March 18 before the council’s cabinet and full council debate it on March 19.
Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, the leader of Breckland Council - which covers Swaffham - said: “I have very mixed emotions about the task in front of us.
"On the one hand, I still have fundamental concerns about the implications of the Government’s policy on reorganisation. It’s rushed, built on weak foundations, and presents a very real threat of increased council tax for Breckland’s residents.
"Speaking with areas who have been through the same recently, I see precious little evidence that the Government has learnt from the myriad of recent mistakes.
“As someone who cares deeply about services residents receive and value for money, it has been depressing to see some of the commentary over the last few days.
"There seems to have been a rush from some councils to respond to this issue by looking for the biggest cuts and most redundancies, based on very little evidence of their achievability.
"It can’t be in anyone’s interest for Local Government to treat this as a race to the bottom; we have to put residents and the needs of our communities at the heart of our decision making.
“In that spirit, the one silver lining here is the opportunity for us to continue to look at how we can make services better for people and how we can keep services as close as possible to residents.
"I am pleased that we have started – in partnership – to define how that could look and feel locally, and I hope Councillors support a positive vision for the future.”
