Letter: Residents & Independents Group Calls for More Time as Local Government Reorganisation Looms

Published on: 9 Jan, 2025
Updated on: 9 Jan, 2025

From: The Residents’ Association and Independents Group

See: Following Debate, SCC Leader Is Writing to Request Postponement of May Elections

The leader of our group, Cllr Catherine Powell [Res Assoc, North Farnham], called yesterday for more time and greater consultation to consider sweeping changes to Local Government. This will abolish District and Borough councils in favour of unitary authorities, as set out in the Government Devolution White Paper.

She described the highly aggressive timetable and lack of detail as instructing Councils to “rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic when they know they have already hit the iceberg”.

The rushed process gave councils only 26 days, over the holiday period, to signal their intention to be a part of the Devolution Priority Programme, a decision that councillors were asked to note rather than approve at today’s Extraordinary Meeting.

The Residents’ Association and Independents Group holds a wide variety of views on the proposed changes.

The majority of the group support the move to unitary authorities, but many have real concerns about the proposed postponement of the May elections to meet the Government’s timetable.

Council Leader Tim Oliver put this process in motion following yesterday’s Extraordinary Meeting, and will be writing to the Minister of State for Local Government and Devolution, Jim McMahon, to signal Surrey’s intention to press ahead with the changes, including a request to postpone the May elections.

The pre-work that goes into setting up the new unitary authorities is critical to managing risks and realising any potential savings from consolidation of the tiers of Government. The Residents’ Association and Independents Group will have a seat at the table in the development of the interim proposals for local government re-organisation due in March and is well placed to contribute, having undertaken significant analysis over the festive period.

This analysis has been shared with the Cabinet, the Leaders of the District and Borough Councils, as well as Local MPs.

An absolute red line for the Group – as part of Local Government Reorganisation – is that the substantial debts of the District and Borough Councils are written off to give the new unitary authorities a fighting chance of being successful.

Cllr Powell commented: “The White Paper sets an impossible timescale that hasn’t been achieved by any successful Unitary Authority. We would have to combine multiple financial systems in less than a year, which based on recent Surrey experience simply isn’t possible. Local Government exists to serve residents – let’s ensure that they are at the centre of everything we do.”