Burnham-On-Sea’s MP has this week quizzed a minister over plans to abolish district councils in Somerset and create a unitary authority.
Burnham-On-Sea.com recently reported here that the leader of Somerset County Council has said the possible abolition of district councils in the county could save between £18m and £28m each year.
In a bid to protect frontline services, Cllr David Fothergill has asked for work to begin to look at how a unitary arrangement could work in the county.
In a parliamentary debate this week, Ian Liddell-Grainger Conservative, Bridgwater and West Somerset MP, said: “This plan is a dangerous, unwarranted and unnecessary intrusion into government in Somerset. We will talk about it and look at it, but at the moment there is no merit in doing it. In fact, it would be more sensible for the districts to take over the county’s functions than for the county to take over the districts’ functions, because the difference is that the districts will not go bust.”
He added: “We need to have referendums, because this process is not working the way it should. We need to take public opinion into account, and a referendum is the way to do that. The Government need to make sure that they insist on referendums and therefore that we have democratic control, as opposed to a democratic deficit, which is where I started in the first place.”
But Burnham’s MP James Heappey said: “While a referendum is certainly the way to finish this process with full public support, the problem with referendums in recent years is that people have sometimes gone into them with incomplete information at their disposal? We must insist that the county council and the districts fully resource the analysis of all possible courses of action, so that a decision can be made on our future as a county based on all facts, rather than those selectively presented to engineer the outcome the county council desires?
Rishi Sunak, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government, responded: “The Government are committed to considering locally led proposals for unitarisation and mergers between councils, where requested. The Government are not in the business of imposing top-down solutions on local government; we wait to hear proposals delivered, developed and initiated by local government.”
Mr Heappey asked: “Since the county council kicked off this conversation a couple of weeks ago, it has come to my attention that the Government have a figure in mind for what ‘substantial’ means, in terms of the minimum size of an authority. Will the Minister offer any detail on that?”
The Minister responded: “My predecessors, the Secretary of State and myself have previously laid out that a unitary authority should contain at least 300,000 people or more. That figure comes from research conducted by the Department in the past. However, each proposal will be considered on its merits.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger challenged the Minister: “Will the Minister say these wonderful words: there should be a referendum?”
The Minister responded: “I am afraid that I cannot say those specific words; indeed, that is not the Government’s previous guidance. The criterion is that there should be evidence of a good deal of local support for the proposal, including from business, the voluntary sector, public bodies and local communities.”
“My hon. Friend will know from the various proposals that the Government have already considered that there have been a range of ways to demonstrate that good deal of local support.”
Burnham’s MP James Heappey then added: “I am keen to understand exactly what level of support is required among local authorities. If all or most districts involved in the proposal were against it, would that be sufficient to block whatever plans might come forward?”
The Minister replied: “I am afraid I cannot give my hon. Friend a specific quantitative mechanism or definition that needs to be met. I re-emphasise the guidance, which states that a good deal of local support is needed. I have tried my best to elaborate on how that will be interpreted by the Secretary of State when he considers proposals in the round, along with all the other criteria that he has to balance.”
