Council to kick-start unitary authority debate

THE first open debate on a shake up of local government that could see Rugby Borough Council abolished along with the county's our other borough and district council will be held next week.

All 62 Warwickshire county councillors will meet on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of unitary status which could save taxpayers' £50million a year.

It comes after several calls were made to look at just one council being formed to run all services in the wake of swathing government public spending cuts.

Currently Rugby council along with councils in Nuneaton and Bedworth, North Warwickshire, Warwick and Stratford councils are responsible for things like rubbish collection, housing, leisure and planning matters while Warwickshire council runs schools and maintains roads.

Between them they provide services to the 545,000 residents, have 272 councillors and spend in the region of £1billion. They also have their own management team and workforce of civil servants.

All have had their funding cut in recent years with the county looking at losing £92million over the next four years and the normally prudent Rugby publicly admitting last month it was facing falling into the red for the first time by 2016.

But it is now being estimated just having one would save £50million a year.

Just last month we reported how Rugby council leader Craig Humphrey insisted there was no appetite for a reorganisation - which laws passed in 2004 paved the way for - and said he had no plans to even investigate the issue.

But county council leader Izzi Seccombe said this week it was now in the public interest to put it on the agenda.

"We have a significant role to play in delivering essential local services for the people of Warwickshire and should do so in the most effective and efficient way," Coun Seccome said.

“The intention is to start an open and inclusive debate which will have at its core the interests of our citizens, and what makes sense to them, and the long term viability of local government in Warwickshire.

"Local government has significant savings to make and we expect that the public sector will be the subject of further austerity measures beyond 2018.

"We therefore believe unitary local government merits further exploration in the interests of Warwickshire residents. We feel this is the start of a crucial conversation which would benefit from the widest possible engagement and should be embraced as early on as possible."

The report going before county councillors at Tuesday's meeting at Shire hall at 10am says unitary status would see:

- A reduction in Council Tax of £30 per year for an average Band D property.

- Residents having a single contact point making it easier for them to access all the services they need.

- The number of councillors in Warwickshire reducing from more than 250 currently to less than 100.

- Councillors only sitting on one council eliminating any conflict between differing priorities.

- Less spent on administration and more on public services.

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