This afternoon Angela Rayner will unveil potentially the biggest shake-up of local government since the 1970s. The Housing Secretary will speak at 1:50 p.m. on her plans for a devolution ‘revolution’. All areas covered by two tiers of local government — generally district and county councils — will be asked to submit proposals to merge into single, unitary authorities. A white paper will be published after Rayner’s speech.
The government’s line is that this move will save billions while simplifying how local democracy works. Local authorities will be expected to cover around 500,000 inhabitants, necessitating a likely cull of hundreds of councillors. Labour argues it will enable the creation of more powerful local mayors to unblock infrastructure and attract greater investment. They will cite the fact that Ben Houchen – the Tory mayor of Tees Valley – has welcomed the plans, including greater powers over transport and planning.
Yet critics counter that the move will create ‘mega-councils’ which undermine local decision-making. The Conservative party has already attacked the changes for imposing reorganisation from Westminster ‘without local consent’. Others like Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have criticised the plans as not being ambitious enough, given the Treasury’s refusal to hand over powers to introduce tourist taxes to pay for services.
A key factor in the criticism is the timeline, with questions as to whether all the May 2025 local elections will now go ahead. Jim McMahon, the devolution minister, refused this morning to say which of the 21 county councils and 10 unitary authorities will be contested next year. Likely counties to be affected include Essex and Kent – where Reform could poll strongly next year. Predictably, the party is up in arms at the decision.
Rayner’s plans look set to go beyond what Labour promised in its election manifesto. She can boast a healthy parliamentary majority and cite polls showing strong support for devolution. But given the likely backlash that her proposals will cause from various interests, she may soon learn why the cause of local government reform usually divides more than it unites.
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