Croydon’s neighbouring district councils could be merged into one county-wide, unitary Surrey authority, under plans expected to be unveiled in a government White Paper, reports PEARL LEE, our south of the borough correspondent
Set for a shake-up: Surrey County Council could take over Reigate’s district duties under reform proposals
Dozens of councils could be abolished in the biggest overhaul of local government in more than 50 years under plans to save £3billion which is being championed in Downing Street by Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney.
Under the plans, district councils such as Croydon’s near neighbours Tandridge, Reigate and Banstead and Epsom and Ewell could all disappear, as Surrey County Council would become the single, unitary authority for the area.
It is not the first time such a scheme has been suggested.
Four years ago, Surrey County Council leader, Conservative Tim Oliver, made a submission to the then Tory government suggesting scraping the county’s 11 district councils in favour of one large unitary authority.
Such a move would make Surrey the largest unitary authority in the country, serving a population of around 1.2million people.
All in favour: Tim Oliver, leader of Surrey County Council
It would represent the largest reform of local authorities in England and Wales since Ted Heath’s government shuffled the shires and counties in 1974 and introduced the two-tier, county and district council system.
Some suggest that if successful, the move may even pave the way for more mergers among borough councils, as a route out of the crippling debts than many – led by Croydon – have accrued over the past 15 years. Some London councils, such as Sutton and Kingston, already share certain back-of-office functions, while othrs, such as Wandsworth and Richmond, even share chief execs.
But as demonstrated by the South London Waste Partnership, comprising Croydon, Sutton, Merton and Kingston, unaccountable quangos often fail to deliver real savings, or proper services.
According to a report in The Times, Surrey together with Kent, Essex and Hertfordshire “will be among the counties set for radical changes to the way they are run, with the promise of more powers and money from Whitehall”.
Vast experience: Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s Chief of Staff
There are 21 county councils across England, with 164 district councils sitting below them. County councils have powers over transport and social care, while district councils are responsible for rubbish collection and day-to-day planning permission.
According to The Times, “Ministers are thought to believe that two-tier local government structures are inefficient and have blamed district councils for building up cash reserves rather than spending the money on improving public services.
“District councils are also seen as blockers to growth by regularly rejecting housing developments.” The newspaper report suggests that Whitehall is only considering the mergers “with areas that proactively supported the reforms”. Which kind of puts Surrey at the head of the queue.
A White Paper on English devolution “will be published in the coming weeks”, the report said.
All change: Surrey’s district councils could be about to be erased from the map
Jim McMahon, the local government minister, told council leaders in September that it was “not acceptable” to not have an elected mayor, in the model of Greater Manchester or the West Midlands, adding that all English regions must have one because they are “part of our system going forward”.
The proposals appear to be more about running local services cheaper, rather than better. McSweeney, with the vast experience of a couple of years as Steve Reed’s gofer on Lambeth Council, was previously head of the Labour group on the Local Government Association, and is reported to be supportive, as is Pete Robbins, the director of local government and devolution at No10.
But councillors and council staff working for district councils are not so keen.
Sam Chapman-Allen, chairman of the District Councils’ Network, said that it was “hard to see” how “vast new unitary councils… far from local communities” would be “genuinely local and rooted in real places”. The proposals would damage “local democratic accountability”, they said.
“Drawing different lines on maps”, they said, is no substitute for genuine reform to public services such as social care.
It is research (ie. a bit of a guesstimate) by the County Councils Network, which represents the county-wide authorities, that suggests that merging every two-tier council would save the taxpayer almost £3billion over five years.
There’s more than a sense that this might just be nibbling around the edges of the real issues confronting local services after 14 years of austerity. Croydon Council is among about two dozen local authorities which have declared themselves technically bankrupt, or are “on the brink” of bankruptcy.
Croydon alone has total debts of £1.5billion.
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