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Councillors across the political divide were united in their opposition to the national Government plans to axe the current two-tier council system in place in many areas of England when they raised concerns about the impact on Staffordshire during a full council meeting. The council’s Conservative opposition group leader Philip White called for the authority to write to Prime Minister Kier Starmer, “as a united council”, to call for the withdrawal of local government reorganisation in Staffordshire at last week’s meeting. And on Tuesday (October 28), during a Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, Reform UK member Councillor Bob Eggington asked what the impact would be if the authority did not put forward a proposal for a new Staffordshire council system to the Government. Existing authorities are required to submit business cases for proposed new councils to central Government by November 28. Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet is due to approve the authority’s business case at a meeting on Tuesday (November 4). While other councils in Staffordshire are proposing systems that would see separate northern and southern unitary authorities, the county council is putting forward a case for an east and west split. If approved by Government, this option would mean Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Moorlands, East Staffordshire, Lichfield and Tamworth would form a new East Staffordshire unitary, while Newcastle, Stafford, South Staffordshire and Cannock Chase would merge into West Staffordshire. Conservative opposition group leader Philip White, speaking after Tuesday’s meeting, said: “This proposal to split Staffordshire in two has been made without any meaningful consultation with residents and has been put together by an accountancy firm with the sole aim of creating the proposal that most closely matches the government’s criteria and therefore to make it as likely as possible it will be the option the government picks. Local government reorganisation (LGR) should not just be about putting in the winning bid, it should be about ensuring that any new councils created genuinely work for the people they serve. “I am yet to speak to anyone who believes Stoke-on-Trent has any connection to areas like Tamworth and Lichfield and the East will inevitably have to pay more tax to prop up the debt of Stoke-on-Trent. There are other options for new councils that deliver savings without completely losing the ‘local’ from our councils and we are urging Reform to think again and come up with a new proposal. “The best solution would be for this pointless reorganisation to be dropped altogether, and we are pleased that the council leadership have agreed to our proposal to write a cross-party letter to the Government to ask them to cancel plans for LGR in Staffordshire. We hope that they will also listen to our call to rethink their LGR plan, which would leave Staffordshire with a terrible arrangement for many years to come.” Councillor Eggington said at Tuesday’s meeting: “I can see a disaster in the making. On Thursday it was obvious that the whole of the council was united in that chamber. “I’m wondering what the implications would be if we didn’t put an option forward, like make a protest and get the letter signed. If we don’t put an option forward that’s showing that we mean business and we don’t want LGR. “I know we will be against the Government, whatever they come up with. But it’s people’s lives, integrity and heritage. “This county council has stood for 135 years – what will we lose? Let’s look at not what we will gain monetary-wise, what will we lose? “We are united and I think it’s possibly the first time this council has been united as one. In that chamber last week it was incredible.” The council’s deputy leader Martin Murray responded: “I totally understand the sentiment. If we do not participate then we are outside the conversation and out of the room, so absolutely we need to put one through. “Just by not participating does not prevent it in any way. If all authorities from the start refused to put one through, possibly that could have made a statement, but that was done very early on – long before we even stood for election – and other areas have put theirs through. “The opposition to LGR is coming. We are already doing a joint letter as mentioned earlier, and will not just be a one letter and forgot process. “We have to be ready, we have to be in the room having those conversations to make sure disaster does not ensue. We have to be part of that conversation from day one, so you cannot ignore and say ‘we’re not going to put one through.’ “We must all be ready to take on board whatever is forced upon. Hopefully they will listen – there are other areas that do not want this as well and it’s not just Staffordshire that are opposed to this.”
