Devon Councils explore unitary merger

Is a shake-up on the way?

Four Devon councils are understood to be in talks about becoming a single authority in response to the government’s devolution white paper.

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner published proposals this week that would essentially abolish the two-tier system of local government, like that in much of Devon.

The county has eight district councils that have very local responsilities, with Devon County Council sitting on top and delivering big budget services.  Plymouth and Torbay are unitary authorities that provide all services, including highways and social care, as well as bin collections and planning.

Ms Rayner wants to create more unitary-style authorities that cover populations of at least 500,000, with regional mayors overseeing two or more of these larger councils. The enlarged authorities would cover all the services currently carried out by both district and county councils.

A senior source close to the talks, who asked not to be named, said four Devon councils are working on a proposal that could be put forward to the government by Friday 10 January.

And the source added the four are in discussions to try and bring other councils on board too.

“The aim of the districts is to create two new authorities in Devon with roughly 500,000 residents each, precisely as the minister has required,” the source said.

The source also suggested that both Plymouth and Exeter – which are both run by Labour – might try to seek unitary status on their own, even though neither has a population big enough to meet Ms Rayner’s proposals.

Exeter abandoned plans to apply for unitary status in the late 2000s, but at the time the catchment area would have been far smaller than the 500,000 required under the current government’s proposals.

The source continued: “If Devon becomes two new authorities, naturally Plymouth goes in one and Exeter in the other, in new councils with their natural neighbours.

“For either to be unitaries in their own right would be as naked a power grab as the Conservatives at the county council trying to postpone elections,” the source added.

Councils have been told by the government they may be able to postpone local elections as the proposals progress. This happened before Somerset became a unitary council in April last year.

However, Devon County Council has not indicated it wants to postpone  elections due in May. Nevertheless Mid Devon District Council leader, Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat, Bradninch) told his authority’s full council meeting this week that he believed the Conservatives at County Hall are seeking to do just that.

A special meeting of Devon County Council has now been scheduled for Thursday 9 January, when councillors will discuss potential proposals.

The county council’s leader, Cllr James McInnes, said he would be “looking carefully” at the government’s white paper and wants to “engage fully with all our neighbouring authorities.

“We already have an ambitious devolution deal for Devon and Torbay, with the new combined county authority coming into being early in the new year,” he said.

“It gives the area more powers to make significantly important decisions locally about key priorities such as housing, employment, education and skills, and the environment.”

He added that his “driving motivation is to do what is best for the people of Devon, and to get the best deal for Devon”.