Rutland County Council to bring recommendation on local government reorganisation

The reorganisation of local government in Rutland will now have the involvement of more elected politicians and the public, a special council meeting decided last night (Tuesday, February 11).

An amendment put forward by the leader of the Conservative group Lucy Stephenson was accepted by Rutland County Council’s Liberal Democrat leader Gale Waller, which will now bring a recommendation about how Rutland would prefer to reorganise back to full council before the end of next month. There will also be a series of public engagements to hear the views of residents.

There was relative consensus last night in the council chamber that the reorganisation is not wanted, but is coming down the tracks and there should be a fight to keep the Rutland moniker included in any new council formation. Many of the councillors in the chamber were also in favour of keeping Rutland as a ceremonial county.

The authority has until the end of next month to put its preferred reorganisation option forward to the government, as the Labour government is asking local authorities to move very fast. The proposal is that councils across the country will, over the next few years, become large unitary councils representing at least 350,000 people.

Coun Waller, who has been in meetings with various council leaders and ministers since December, said the comments made by her colleagues would help her in ‘arguments' with fellow leaders across Leicestershire that she predicted was coming.

She said: “I don't think any of us want to be in this room. None of us want to be in the position we have been put in by the white paper. I think the majority want to at least keep Rutland as it is and to possibly organically grow. But that is not where we are.”

The most likely option for Rutland is to join with Leicestershire councils, but Coun Waller also said she was still talking with South Kesteven District Council’s leader Ashley Baxter (Ind) about joining forces, which was a logical move. But she added: "This is not the world I am currently living in, where letters of intent are required by March and full proposals by November.”

Of the 27 elected councillors, 23 attended the meeting held at Catmose House, Oakham.

Many spoke of the need to consult with residents to make sure their views were heard and taken into account.

Coun Tracey Carr (Ind), who represents the Barleythorpe ward, said that her residents had told her they did not feel informed enough.

She said she welcomed the amendment to engage with residents and said that it would be an opportunity to do some ‘mythbusting’ including rumours that council tax would go down with the creation of a new council.

She said if Rutland did only have three councillors to represent the county in a new authority as had been mooted, she feared the independent councillor would be lost.

Coun Giles Clifton (Con) said the reorganisation proposals were ‘terrible for local democracy in Rutland'.

He said: “We may speak in polite and gentle tones, but do not underestimate the level of our distress.”

He said he was worried what a change could mean for planning policy and the protection of the countryside and said, ‘we must preserve at all costs the ceremonial county of Rutland’.

At the start of the meeting Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns (Con) said in order to negotiate in the best interests of the county, she needed the full council and the residents with her.

After the amendment was approved to bring a vote back to the council and engage with residents, she said: “My public meetings on the future of Rutland have made clear the strength of feeling in our communities. Rutlanders want a say and will not accept having our identity stripped from us.

“I am relieved our Conservative, and independent backed, amendment was accepted by the leader of the council to recognise Rutlanders deserve to be heard, and that a vote for all councillors is absolutely necessary - this cannot be the decision of one person alone.

“As I said in my deputation to the council, resistance is never futile in defence of your community. The council must now bring together proposals that meet the expectations of Rutland - I shall set out red-lines in days to come.”

Leader of the Labour group Coun Ramsay Ross was a lone voice in appearing to welcome the benefits of reorganisation being ordered by his national party.

He said: “Despite the good work of the council and the attractiveness of our county we cannot ignore the challenges we face.”

He said the economy of the county had shrunk by more than a quarter since 2010, wages are comparatively low and house prices are high. He said the county had become a centre for commuting.

He said he hoped any new deal would safeguard jobs for Rutland local authority officers and would also retain the Rutland name in some way.

Coun Kevin Corby (Ind) who represents Ryhall, urged the leader to keep talking with her South Kesteven neighbours.

He said: “Whatever happens we need to be taking a lead and leaving no stone unturned.”

Coun Abigail West (Lib Dem) she had received about 100 emails from residents, on the issue, with not one person in favour of reorganisation.

“It is a rush job by a Labour government flailing and in difficulty. They are in a mess and looking for quick wins.”

She said she hoped the government plans are watered down before they are implemented.

After the council voted unanimously on the motion to bring a final back to the full council and engage with residents, chairman Andrew Brown (Ind) said the county was facing a “watershed moment, the likes of which has not been seen for 50 years”.