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| Is splitting Oxfordshire into four just Cameron’s revenge? | Is splitting Oxfordshire into four just Cameron’s revenge? |
| (6 months later) | |
| First David Cameron complains to Oxfordshire county council about cuts to frontline services in his Witney constituency. Understandably, the angry Conservative council leader implies the PM is clearly out of touch with the reality of his government’s austerity measures. | First David Cameron complains to Oxfordshire county council about cuts to frontline services in his Witney constituency. Understandably, the angry Conservative council leader implies the PM is clearly out of touch with the reality of his government’s austerity measures. |
| Soon the Cameron family weighs in: last month his aunt criticised the planned closure of Sure Start children’s centres in the county. His mother signed a petition in protest at the move. Then, last week, Cameron backs proposals from local district councils to scrap the county council and replace it with up to four unitary authorities. | Soon the Cameron family weighs in: last month his aunt criticised the planned closure of Sure Start children’s centres in the county. His mother signed a petition in protest at the move. Then, last week, Cameron backs proposals from local district councils to scrap the county council and replace it with up to four unitary authorities. |
| Coincidence? Whatever the motive, the PM agreed a joint statement with four other MPs in Oxfordshire welcoming the proposals. The Department for Communities and Local Government says it looks forward to “continuing constructive discussions”. It neatly chimes with this government’s English devolution agenda – namely giving more freedom and flexibility to groups of councils that reorganise and agree to pool some functions in new combined authorities. | Coincidence? Whatever the motive, the PM agreed a joint statement with four other MPs in Oxfordshire welcoming the proposals. The Department for Communities and Local Government says it looks forward to “continuing constructive discussions”. It neatly chimes with this government’s English devolution agenda – namely giving more freedom and flexibility to groups of councils that reorganise and agree to pool some functions in new combined authorities. |
| Below the political radar, the administrative map of England is changing. In some areas there’s a logic to combining, or sharing, functions – such as highways and transport coordination, public health, and training and employment schemes – while in others, proposals run the risk of defying both geography and regional identity. | Below the political radar, the administrative map of England is changing. In some areas there’s a logic to combining, or sharing, functions – such as highways and transport coordination, public health, and training and employment schemes – while in others, proposals run the risk of defying both geography and regional identity. |
| So far, the seven devolution deals already signed appear sensible. Greater Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool city regions, the West Midlands and the North East, were all, at least partly, former metropolitan counties, abolished in 1986. They’ve been joined by Tees Valley and Cornwall. But 27 bids so far in England for combined authority status have now been made – amid some disquiet that potentially significant changes are under way without a proper debate. This is the point being made by Oxfordshire county council in its response to proposals so enthusiastically supported by Cameron. | So far, the seven devolution deals already signed appear sensible. Greater Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool city regions, the West Midlands and the North East, were all, at least partly, former metropolitan counties, abolished in 1986. They’ve been joined by Tees Valley and Cornwall. But 27 bids so far in England for combined authority status have now been made – amid some disquiet that potentially significant changes are under way without a proper debate. This is the point being made by Oxfordshire county council in its response to proposals so enthusiastically supported by Cameron. |
| A report showed that greater savings would emerge from the abolition of district councils | A report showed that greater savings would emerge from the abolition of district councils |
| One idea is to extend the geography of Oxfordshire into parts of Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire. As Rodney Rose, deputy leader of the county council noted, the district councils’ proposals would mean the creation of, say, four separate departments for children and adult services, instead of the one currently delivered by the county council. And the NHS locally would need to deal with four organisations, not one, as it tries to integrate health and adult care services. | One idea is to extend the geography of Oxfordshire into parts of Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire. As Rodney Rose, deputy leader of the county council noted, the district councils’ proposals would mean the creation of, say, four separate departments for children and adult services, instead of the one currently delivered by the county council. And the NHS locally would need to deal with four organisations, not one, as it tries to integrate health and adult care services. |
| Last year, the county commissioned a report from consultants Ernst and Young which showed that greater savings would emerge from the abolition of district councils and the creation of one unitary council covering Oxfordshire, rather than splitting up the county. Cameron appeared uninterested. | Last year, the county commissioned a report from consultants Ernst and Young which showed that greater savings would emerge from the abolition of district councils and the creation of one unitary council covering Oxfordshire, rather than splitting up the county. Cameron appeared uninterested. |
| It is seven years since the last bout of local government reorganisation in England, when 44 councils were amalgamated into nine unitary authorities. Some counties, like Shropshire, Northumberland and Durham, morphing into unitaries, retained their traditional boundaries; others, like Cheshire and Bedfordshire, were split in two. The country is now a patchwork quilt of administration: 27 remaining two-tier counties, with both districts and county councils; and 91 unitary and metropolitan councils in the six main conurbations outside London. There’s little coherence. | It is seven years since the last bout of local government reorganisation in England, when 44 councils were amalgamated into nine unitary authorities. Some counties, like Shropshire, Northumberland and Durham, morphing into unitaries, retained their traditional boundaries; others, like Cheshire and Bedfordshire, were split in two. The country is now a patchwork quilt of administration: 27 remaining two-tier counties, with both districts and county councils; and 91 unitary and metropolitan councils in the six main conurbations outside London. There’s little coherence. |
| The question now arising is whether the bidding process for combined authorities represents covert reorganisation by the back door, driven by necessity, as councils struggle with even more severe spending cuts. The new Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 makes provision for elected mayors in combined authority areas, while conferring new powers for coordinating local transport and merging health and social care in a series of “devolution deals”. Ministers insist this does not represent top-down local government reorganisation, but rather a bottom-up approach driven by local ambition. It’s a moot point. | The question now arising is whether the bidding process for combined authorities represents covert reorganisation by the back door, driven by necessity, as councils struggle with even more severe spending cuts. The new Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 makes provision for elected mayors in combined authority areas, while conferring new powers for coordinating local transport and merging health and social care in a series of “devolution deals”. Ministers insist this does not represent top-down local government reorganisation, but rather a bottom-up approach driven by local ambition. It’s a moot point. |
| But in Oxfordshire, outraged county councillors feel other pressures from the top. Liz Brighouse, leader of the council’s Labour group, speaks for many when she describes Cameron’s intervention as a “vindictive act against the (Conservative) county council leader who said that cuts in money for public services actually mean real cuts in services”. And we ain’t seen nothing yet, (costly) reorganisation or not. | But in Oxfordshire, outraged county councillors feel other pressures from the top. Liz Brighouse, leader of the council’s Labour group, speaks for many when she describes Cameron’s intervention as a “vindictive act against the (Conservative) county council leader who said that cuts in money for public services actually mean real cuts in services”. And we ain’t seen nothing yet, (costly) reorganisation or not. |
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