County council approves its interim plan for reorganisation of local government

Staffordshire county councillors have backed draft proposals for a new unitary authority to oversee services for residents.

The county’s eight district and borough councils, which currently provide services such as bin collections, emergency housing, planning and leisure facilities, are all facing the axe as part of national government plans to reorganise the local authority system.

Councils across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have been asked by Jim McMahon, Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, to submit interim plans for reorganisation by Friday, March 21, with full proposals expected to be put forward by November 28.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has proposed the creation of a North Staffordshire authority, covering Newcastle Borough and Staffordshire Moorlands District alongside Stoke-on Trent. In the south of the county district and borough councils are considering forming another unitary authority, and this is set to be discussed at meetings next week in Stafford and Cannock.

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Staffordshire County Council’s outline plans propose a single authority to replace the county and eight district and borough councils. A larger Mayoral Strategic Authority would also be created across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, which would take the lead on areas such as economic growth – and could even include parts of Shropshire.

On Thursday (March 13) the county authority’s draft interim plan was approved at a full council meeting. The outline plans will now be considered by the Government before more detailed proposals for local government reorganisation are submitted later this year, but the earliest that changes are expected to be fully implemented is 2028.

Council leader Alan White, who presented the item at Thursday’s meeting, said:

“I am probably the first person to stand up and do this in this organisation since 1973. It is a rare thing indeed we have to do and we have been told to do it by Government.

“Two-tier working in Staffordshire works. During the course of the pandemic, we approved the efficiency of two-tier working and there is simply no way we would have been able to get the support out to businesses, the vulnerable and those shielding across Staffordshire as efficiently as we were able to.

“Our starting point has to be what is in the best interests of Staffordshire when we consider this proposal. You might want to stand up during this debate and say ‘I don’t want this to happen’ and that is a bit like King Canute at the seashore – you are not going to stop this tide from rising just by shouting about it in this chamber.

“This gets us through the boundary of March 21. What we will do after that is spend time talking to our communities and partners and listening to our communities and partners about how we can make a new arrangement as successfully as it possibly can be for the future.”

Councillor White gave further details of the two different authorities proposed in the interim plan. He said the strategic authority would be a new tier of government that sat above the county council level and would require a Mayor.

“The reason why we would support that is because the offer that Government has made for devolution – that is the powers we could have locally through the office of a Mayor – are almost irresistible”, Councillor White said. “It will allow us to have a say on infrastructure, planning, skills, health – the things that really matter to the residents we represent.

“Logically, the strategic authority that we are talking about would be Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent because we have Staffordshire Police, Fire and Rescue and health which covers Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. Administratively it fits quite neatly, however Government has made it clear there should be no gaps in the map and we know Shropshire and Telford may well need to form part of a wider strategic authority, so this proposal has sufficient flexibility in it to allow us to accommodate a wider strategic authority should it be needed.

“Our proposal sees a single unitary authority created on the footprint of Staffordshire County Council, that is to say the eight districts and boroughs and the county of Staffordshire becoming a single unitary. This proposal will see the dissolution of Staffordshire County Council, as well as the eight districts and boroughs.

“If it turns out that an alternative proposal is better than the one we have got, then it will be the alternative proposal we go for because that will be in the best interest of the residents that we represent. The phrase is often banded about that we would be turkeys voting for Christmas to support this – we are not.

“We are serious politicians who spend a lot of our life looking after our local areas and trying to improve them. What you are voting for this morning is the contemplation of the future services we can deliver for Staffordshire residents, a line in the sand and a placeholder.”