Local Government Reorganisation - Unitary Councils
Government - Consultation 5th Feb to 26th March (DEADLINE)
All the original planning conducted over the last few months have resulted in two options :-
a) a Single Unitary combining all of Worcestershire into one authority
b) Dual Unitary authorities - North Worcestershire and South Worcestershire
Wychavon are recommending the Dual Unitary option which was strongly favoured in the initial consultation.
Supporters of the single authority suggest that there are greater economies as it avoids duplication, though supporters of the two authority option argue that two smaller authorities ensure that services can be more closely tuned to the local needs and thus more efficient.
The key arguments are provided within a consultation document, which we encourage people to read.
However , one thing which we feel is not clearly presented in the document is the likely financial impact on residents.
The new authority(s) must harmonise rates across their region - which would mean that Wychavon, residents would face an increase either to harmonise with all districts of South Worcestershire or the whole of the county including the Urban districts of Redditch, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster and Wyre Forrest.
The impact of this alignment is expected to be around and INCREASE OF AROUND £400 a year for a Band D home for the single unitary - significantly less for the two unitary.
We also feel that being lumped in with the urban districts in the north of the county would inevitably lead to an imbalance in power and influence, with the interests of the rural south being overshadowed by the voices of the urban north. Keeping the decision making closer to residents in our more rural areas seems to inevitably be in our interests.
Whatever your views we encourage you to read the cases and DO EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS IN THE SURVEY.
Transforming Worcestershire Background information
Received from Our County Councillor (Dan Boatwright-Greene) following recent briefing Link Cases For and Against
Below are responses made on Facebook - to a resident seeking better understanding of the predicted rates increase especially for the Single unitary.
We include it here in the hope it may also help others with similar questions.
Residents name removed - but our thanks to them for raising the question
RESIDENT
Why would our council tax go up by £400 because we are one council rather than two? Council tax in the Northern districts doesn't seem to be significantly higher than in the southern at the moment.
- Reply
Bishampton & Throckmorton Parish Council
The statisticians create the comparisons - the £400 increase number seems broadly accepted.
The raw comparison of rates below show that the South regions are the three lowest with the north ones all about double ours ...
Average Band D £
Bromsgrove WM Worcestershire £257.48
Malvern Hills WM Worcestershire £182.60
Redditch WM Worcestershire £277.64
Worcester WM Worcestershire £219.45
Wychavon WM Worcestershire £128.21
Wyre Forest WM Worcestershire £250.58
…. but this is only part of the story; they are also the most populous areas so the total amounts raised are disproportionately larger in the North. When averaged over the full county the impact is forecast at the £400. Alignment for the 2 unitary approach would see realignment but only with the southern districts Worcester City being the largest.
Bishampton & Throckmorton Parish Council
Put another way ...its not the difference between the current rates payable which determine the impact - it is the major variation in the Total amounts raised by the different regions. ... much larger in the north of the county.
- Reply
RESIDENT
Bishampton & Throckmorton Parish Council this doesn't make sense to me, looking at the District element of the various areas because the County element will remain the same. I'm not even thinking about any possible savings.
Bishampton & Throckmorton Parish Council
The Unitary (or Unitaries) would be responsible for services and costs from both county AND district which would all be averaged spread across the whole population irrespective of the share of services delivered in the local area. Thus the rural south which incur lower costs, would be subsidising the higher cost urban areas. You will be paying for street lighting, car parks and public loos in Redditch!!
Bishampton & Throckmorton Parish Council
Aside from the cost impacts - we also feel that it is inevitable that the voice and interests of the rural areas will be outweighed by the scale of the representation from the urban centres - local interests are better supported by keeping the decision making centres closer to the communities thus a South Worcestershire authority serving the needs of south Worcestershire communities seems the better choice. Bear in mind that this change is not something wanted by any of the authorities - but is being imposed on all by Central Government.
Background
No matter what your political perspective there is an almost universal sense across local government, that this current "once in a generation" reorganisation is something which is "being done to us".
The move from two tier "District Council and County Council - to single tier Unitary Councils - is not up for debate - but being imposed.
It has previously taken place in different parts of the country with varying degrees of success - and goes hand in hand with the establishment of region Mayors.
It is argued that Unitaries bring economies of scale in delivering services and remove the dichotomy of responsibility for public services.
Whilst cost economies are claimed they tend to disregard the implementation and transformation costs and seem to fail to take any qualitative appraisal of services before and after. Nor do there seem to be significant studies of people's views on impacts of the changes on service delivery.
What does seem to be well reported is that where such schemes are in place there has been significant pressure on parish councils to take on responsibilities AND costs from the senior councils.
Your parish council is actively working to understand and start to form plans for the migration which is coming, to try and protect our parishes from adverse impacts.
We are also happy to talk to members of our local communities about the forthcoming changes and do our best to answer your questions.
You can e-mail the Parish council team at contact@BaTPC.org.uk
The Parish Council Team