A Rushcliffe councillor has claimed that the ruling Conservative party’s ‘anti-Nottingham city’ stance on local government reorganisation has “strong hints of classism and racism”.
Labour’s Chris Grocock made the comments during a debate on which local government reorganisation option Rushcliffe Borough Council should vote for by the government’s deadline of November 28.
The reorganisation of local government, which is scheduled to take place by 2028, will see local councils like Rushcliffe and Nottinghamshire County Council merge into new, larger authorities that will run every service in a single area.
In Nottinghamshire, various options have been proposed for the boundaries of the new authorities.
Rushcliffe council, which is run by Conservatives, is voting for an option to make Rushcliffe part of a wider ‘Nottinghamshire’ council.
But there was also an option for Rushcliffe to become part of a ‘Nottingham’ urban council due to its proximity to the city.
Rushcliffe’s decision was being discussed at an extraordinary council meeting, called solely for a debate on Thursday, November 20.
Councillor Grocock accused the Conservatives of “stoking anti-Nottingham city sentiment” to the public with regard to the urban ‘city’ option by promoting ‘untruths’, such as that all the officers and councillors in a potential urban council will be drawn from the current Labour Nottingham City Council.
He said: “We have seen a deliberate stoking of anti-Nottingham City sentiment based on the fundamental untruth that any of the options represents an expansion of Nottingham City Council.
“The whole process, despite the massive amount of work by officers and expert consultants, is reduced to a shallow ‘I’ll-go-with-anyone-but-Nottingham-city’ political cesspit with strong hints of classism, racism and other prejudices.”
But Conservative councillor David Simms hit back – claiming that the diversity in the room came from the Conservatives, not the Labour group.
He said: “My hearing aids must have been a little bit confused towards the end of councillor Grocock’s speech where he said the race word: ‘Racism.’
“Maybe my hearing aids weren’t tuned in. There’s very little diversity in this room. However, the diversity is on this side, not the other side. So I think that’s a little bit shallow in many respects.”
At the end of the meeting, councillors were asked to vote on supporting the submission and recommendation of the ‘Nottinghamshire’ council option to the Rushcliffe cabinet, which will meet on Tuesday, November 25.
In total, 27 councillors voted in favour of supporting, including Councillor Simms, while five voted against and six abstained – including Councillor Grocock.
Nottingham City Council is already a unitary authority that provides all services for residents within its boundary.
However, currently, for residents outside the city, local district councils such as Rushcliffe, Gedling, or Mansfield are responsible for services like buses and bin collections.
Nottinghamshire County Council is responsible for other services in the same areas, like roads and schools, meaning that there are two councils operating in one place.
Since the announcement of LGR, local authorities have worked together on potential options for the new boundaries.
• County Council backs Nottingham, Broxtowe, Gedling merge
• City council publishes its Local Government Reorganisation proposal
