Political leaders, past and present, are divided over the Government’s plans to merge local Nottinghamshire councils in an attempt to cut costs and make services more efficient.
The Labour Government’s English Devolution White Paper outlines its support for giving powers back to local areas through the creation of more “strategic authorities,” as has been done in the East Midlands with the creation of the new combined authority and a mayor.
However, it also outlines hopes for creating new combined councils instead of ‘two-tier’ structures, like that in Nottinghamshire, to reduce the overall number of local councillors and slash costs amid significant financial pressures across local government.
In Nottinghamshire, one tier of council services, including roads, schools, and social care, is provided by Nottinghamshire County Council. However, a second tier of seven smaller, separate district and borough councils provides other services, such as parks and bin collections.
In the city, the council system is different. Nottingham City Council is a ‘unitary authority,’ meaning it is responsible for all services within its boundaries, including bin collections, parks, and adults’ and children’s social care.
“New unitary councils must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks,” the paper says.
“For most areas, this will mean creating councils with a population of 500,000 or more.
“Unitary councils can lead to better outcomes for residents, save significant money which can be reinvested in public services, and improve accountability with fewer politicians who are more able to focus on delivering for residents.”
It is not the first time the possibility of council unification has been discussed in Nottinghamshire.
Kay Cutts, the former Conservative leader of Nottinghamshire County Council from 2017 to 2021, had previously put forward a business case for replacing the current two-tier system of local government in the county with one larger authority – or ‘super council.’
She had said the current system for local government was unsustainable and suggested pooling services into a singular council to save an estimated £30m a year.
The seven district and borough councils, along with the County Council, all have elected councillors, senior management teams, chief executives, and back-office functions, which come with costs to taxpayers.
However, the plans were shelved in 2018 due to political unease about them.
Speaking on the Government’s plans outlined in the White Paper, she said: “I would support the proposals, as long as we kept parish councils.
“It was an idea that my group had in 2018, and we put these forward for adoption. There is a very good reason for it.
“At the moment, we have seven second secretariats. Every two years we have elections, between county and the boroughs and districts, and those are quite expensive.
“I cannot see the point of that. You could then sell all of the headquarters to bring in capital receipts.”
However, Ms Cutts raised concerns over any merger of borough councils with Nottingham City Council, which declared itself effectively bankrupt last year.
“We would not want the city to take over the boroughs,” she said. “Broxtowe, Gedling, I don’t think, would want to be in the city.”
Nottingham city, the wider county, Derby city, and Derbyshire are now part of the East Midlands Combined County Authority, which was created as part of a devolution deal to give local areas more power to spend money where they know best.
The authority is headed by Labour Mayor Claire Ward, who, in a May election, defeated the former leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Ben Bradley, who had stood for the Conservatives.
Nottingham City Council’s leader, Cllr Neghat Khan (Lab), said while she welcomes the plans, the council is currently working to “understand the options for Nottingham, working closely with our neighbours and partners.”
