Leicestershire County Council denied fast track to local government reorganisation as Rutland County Council vows to continue conversation

The local government reorganisation for Rutland and Leicestershire will now have more time after it was denied a fast track process.

As part of a national overhaul of local government being dictated by the national government, Leicestershire County Council had told central government it would like to postpone this May’s elections in order to be part of one of the first new councils created.

This would have involved forming a new unitary council with neighbouring Leicestershire district councils and possibly Rutland.

However yesterday (February 5) deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said Leicestershire’s elections must continue as scheduled, as it is not one of the selected authority areas to go in the first batch of reorganisation.

Councils must however still put forward their interim proposals for reorganisation by March, with final proposals to be submitted by May for areas in need of local government reorganisation to go forward with a later devolution.

Next Tuesday (February 11) Rutland’s full council will discuss the local government reorganisation, with all councillors being able to share their views for the first time. The papers say however that any final decision to be made about which way Rutland participates in a reorganisation will come down to the leader Gale Waller (Lib Dem).

In a statement issued yesterday Coun Waller said: “The government has made its intentions very clear. All two-tier areas and smaller or failing unitary authorities must develop proposals that embrace local government reorganisation and lead to the creation of new, larger unitaries.

"These new unitary councils are expected to be a certain size to achieve efficiencies and withstand financial shocks. For most areas, this will mean councils with a population of 500,000 or more. There may be exceptions to ensure new structures make sense for an area and we’ve been advised that decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis, with priority given to the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services, above all else.

“I have spoken at length about the need to engage constructively and proactively in the process of devolution, as well as local government reorganisation. We are having to follow a very prescribed framework, which is spelled out in December’s White Paper. Discussions are therefore continuing between Rutland County Council, Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council and all Leicestershire district councils about how best to enable devolution and shape these plans across our areas. Nothing has been decided yet but there is no way to opt out of this process and I believe we must have a confirmed position on local government reorganisation before progressing on to devolution.

“Evidence is being gathered to make sure that any new structure makes sense for our area and achieves the Government’s stated aims of delivering high quality and sustainable public services. We are all familiar with the concept of economies of scale but biggest does not automatically mean best. It has been proven many times over that councils perform best when their boundaries reflect the way people live their lives.”

Acting leader of Leicestershire County Council Deborah Taylor (Con) said: “It’s a case of when, not if, change is coming– and it isn’t an optional process.

“It is well known that Leicestershire has been frustrated in trying to achieve any devolution of powers and responsibilities, a frustration which has been shared by MPs and district councils. Since reorganisation is required to unlock devolution, the county council had bid to join the fast-track programme for reorganisation which would enable devolution at the earliest opportunity.

“Moving the election would have sped up the pace but we still need to get moving. Our focus now is working with all stakeholders to draw up more detailed plans.”