Regionalisation
Please disseminate the following information as widely as possible, particularly
to your friendly press contacts.
Within the last two weeks the Leader and Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire
County Council were summoned to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to meet
Rt Hon Mr Milliband, MP, Local Government Minister.
They were told that there will be a White Paper in June 2006 on Local
Government. They were ordered to work on plans for the amalgamation of their
Local Authorities into Unitary Authorities. This re-organisation was to be at no
cost to the Government, all costs will be borne by the Council Tax payer. Their
proposals must be in by to the ODPM by the end of September 2006 (note, there
can be only limited consultation as this work will take place, conveniently,
over the summer holiday season).
The re-organisation will be in the Queen's Speech in the Autumn and the
re-organisation will be complete by 2008/09.
Bucks County Council is to decide how the re-organisation into Unitary
Authorities will be undertaken, there is no size proposed for a Unitary
Authority. Bucks County Council expects this to result in the loss of a great
many County Council representatives. Needless to say the County
Council are somewhat unhappy with this diktat.
Presumably other County Council leaders have had similar meetings.
The Regionalisation juggernaut gathers rapid pace.
Regards,
Rodney Howlett