Don't Overhaul Local Government Right Now, Say West Sussex Leaders

Discussing government plans to overhaul the local council system would be ‘pointless’ at the moment, according to the leader of West Sussex County Council.

Proposals, which could include scrapping some district and county councils in favour of unitary authorities, are expected to be published within the next few weeks.

At a meeting of the performance and finance scrutiny committee, Paul Marshall said he and the county’s district and borough leaders had agreed there was no point discussing the plans until they knew what was actually involved.

Mr Marshall said:

“Until government gives framework for what those discussions are, it’s pointless having a conversation because it will be a distraction from running the council services.”

His views were shared by other members of the committee, who criticised the fact such an idea was being considered in the middle of a pandemic.

Liz Kitchen (Con, St Leonard’s Forest) was leader of Horsham District Council last time an overhaul was considered – and it didn’t bring any fond memories.

She said:

“Why on earth has this come up again now when there’s so much else for local government to do?

“It set party against party, it set candidate against candidate. Basically it brought all of local government to a halt.

“I’m actually in favour of unitary authorities but to bring it up now in this way, to me, is just absolutely ridiculous.”

Labour leader Michael Jones agreed, saying the proposals seemed to have ‘just come from nowhere’.

He added:

“This seems to be reorganisation for the sake of it and that’s pointless.

“That’s purely sort of a managerial thing where they create work for themselves in order to justify their existence. And I don’t like that.”

In England, most areas are governed using a two-tier system.

The county councils are responsible for such things as education, social services and waste disposal, while district councils take care of rubbish collection, planning and housing.

A unitary authority would provide all those services.

A recent report to the County Councils Network said replacing 213 smaller councils with 25 larger ones could save almost £3bn over five years.

Mr Marshall told the meeting he believed the government’s focus would be on councils in the Midlands and the north.