Tag Archives: local government reform

In the excitement of appointing a new Prime Minister, the Manchester Mayoral election, and Count Binface’s adventures in Clacton, the government’s proposals for local government reform in England have been overlooked by the media. This is a pity, as the implications of the changes will stay with us for a long time. How local government is organized affects how efficiently services are delivered to residents, and what they cost. Mathew Hulbert pointed out eloquently in LDV a fortnight ago that the government’s proposed changes are not a technical administrative reform, but a profound political change.

The motive behind current government policy is to replace two-tier local government with unitary councils. Fair enough, fashions change. The process started when Angela Rayner was Minister. She aimed for unitaries with a population of around 500,000. When Steve Reed took over, he favoured smaller councils. What neither of them favoured, unfortunately, was an impartial, evidence-led way of deciding what council boundaries should be. This has led to political manipulation almost to the extent of gerrymandering, and proposals for councils with no roots in community. Local councils with absurd boundaries have caused political ructions in many counties. One of the craziest examples is in Lincolnshire.

There are two obvious ways of establishing unitary authorities in the area. One is to have a unitary Lincolnshire County Council based on the present authority. This would have a population around the size Angela Rayner originally wanted for unitaries. The other is to return to the pre-1974 pattern of three unitary councils based on the historic “Parts” of the county: Lindsey, Kesteven, and Holland, with a separate council for the city of Lincoln. That would provide more compact unitaries, of the size Steve Reed seemed to favour.