Majority Decision For Local Government Reorganisation

Last night Bromsgrove District Councillors decided two authorities was their preferred option to govern Worcestershire as part of Local Government Reorganisation. One for the north of the County and one for the south.

The two new unitary authority model would see a North Worcestershire Council serving Bromsgrove and Redditch and Wyre Forest with a separate Southern authority serving Malvern Hills, Worcester and Wychavon.

At the meeting they considered an Options Appraisal which provided an objective and evidence-based assessment of the two options for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

Option A proposed one new unitary council across the whole of Worcestershire while Option B put forward two new unitary authorities covering North and South of the County. This would replace the current arrangement of six district councils and a county council.

After considering the positives and negatives of each, Option B will now be explored further by Council officers and brought back before Members in November. A final proposal will then be submitted to Government later that month.

In the run up to the Option Appraisal being drawn up by consultants Mutual Ventures, a County-wide survey was carried out which included engagement sessions.

A majority of Bromsgrove residents preferred Option B as part of the engagement exercise.

Council Leader Karen May said: “First of all I want to thank our residents, who took the time to take part the engagement exercises.

“I am delighted to report that this Council collectively listened to our residents and decided that we needed to take this opportunity to shake things up and make a difference to our residents on the ground.

“While the appraisal report showed that there could be bigger savings with a one authority approach we felt that a smaller authority would have greater success in terms of outcomes.

“It’s due to this feedback, which was in favour of the two authority approach, and the collation of information from across our services which provided such a robust document for us to consider.

“I am confident we have a firm foundation from which to develop our final proposal which will be sent to Government in time to meet their deadline.

“I want to further reassure residents that we will ensure that they continue to receive excellent everyday services as Local Government Reorganisation continues and beyond.”

The commissioning authorities for the Options Appraisal included Redditch Borough, Worcester City, Malvern Hills District and Wychavon District Councils.

Feedback from the residents’ survey and more information is available at ShapeWorcestershire.org and bromsgrove.gov.uk

A full version of the report is here