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- Parliament gives green light for five flagship unitaries
Parliament gives green light for five flagship unitaries
| Published | 26 February 2008 |
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New unitary councils in Cornwall, County Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire have now received Parliamentary approval. The new-style unitary councils will pioneer new ways to empower local communities, to radically improve services, and to promote prosperity across these five counties.
Once up and running the new councils will in total save over £75m each year that can be directly invested into improving frontline services or used to reduce council tax bill pressures for 2.1 million people. The number of councils in these areas will be reduced from 33 to just five.
All councils will be fully established from 1 April 2009. Elections to the new councils will take place in May this year in Northumberland and County Durham, and May next year in Shropshire, Wiltshire and Cornwall.
In each area all the councils and their partners now need to work together effectively and constructively to achieve the transformational change, and to fully realise the benefits - economic, social and environmental - for local people.
Local Government Minister John Healey said:
"This is a pivotal moment for the formation of new flagship unitary authorities, where the delivery of better services, leadership, savings and greater involvement of local people takes centre stage. Now it is time to move on from past debates and discussions about restructuring.
"This is inevitably an unsettling time but I expect all authorities involved to lend their weight now to delivery through their locally led implementation executives, and the Government will do all we can to support that process.
"I made my commitment clear during the Parliamentary debates that staff will transfer to new authorities with the protections of the TUPE regulations. I also intend to require all chief executive appointments to be subject to open competition, and I expect most other senior appointments to be open to re-recruitment and competition too."
Locally led implementation executives comprising councillors from the county and all district councils and including representation from all the main political parties are already working on effective implementation of the new authorities, including arrangements for staff, who will transfer with the protections of the TUPE regulations.
Notes to editors
1. Proposals for a two-unitary Cheshire are also being debated in Parliament today and approval is expected shortly. The Government will make final decisions on Bedfordshire shortly following the invitation in December for further proposals. In Norwich, Ipswich and Exeter the Boundary Committee have been asked to advise on whether there are alternative unitary proposals by the end of this year.
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