Labour votes against Devon’s council revamp proposals

Some Labour members vented frustration

Labour has vented anger over the absence of an Exeter-centric option for how Devon’s councils could be revamped.

All five Labour councillors present at a Devon County Council meeting to debate what to suggest to the government voted against the motion.

The county council has put forward five proposals ahead of the biggest changes to local councils in decades.

Cllr Yvonne Atkinson (Labour, Alphington & Cowick) said she couldn’t support the council’s proposals “for the very good reason that it doesn’t include a greater Exeter option”.

“I take issue with the fact that an Exeter option has not been put into this report,” she said at a special council meeting convened at Devon’s County Hall a day before proposals have to be submitted on Friday.

“This council has supported the Exeter local transport plan, which recognises the travel to work area, but no options reflecting this have been included.”

Cllr Atkinson complained that around 2,000 homes had been built on the border of her Exeter constituency which are technically in Teignbridge.

“That development is called south west Exeter, not north west Teignbridge, all the houses are not marketed as ‘come to Newton Abbot’, but ‘come and live in Alphington’,” she added.

She said she felt the five options proposed are “politically driven rather than sensible geographic options that reflect the feeling and identity of the people”.

However, Cllr James McInnes (Hatherleigh & Chagord), the outgoing Conservative leader of Devon County Council, said he did “not see how Exeter could stand alone” and that it needs the support of other Devon residents.

Exeter City Council wants to become a unitary council, responsible for all  services within its boundaries.

At present, the county council is responsible for some services in Exeter, and Devon’s other districts, including highways and education. It is this so-called two-tier system that Westminster wants to eradicate.

While Exeter’s population is only around 130,000 now, it has published proposals that would see that rise to between 300,000 to 350,000 by absorbing parts of neighbouring districts.

The government wants new unitary councils to cover populations of at least 500,000, but there is disagreement between the parties in Devon about how cast-iron this is.

In his letter from December, Jim McMahon MP,  minister for local government and English devolution, said: “there may be exceptions” to the 500,000 population guideline “to ensure new structures make sense for an area”.

Cllr Tracy Adams (Labour, Pinnhoe and Mincinglake), thought unitary status for an extended Exeter would be “in the best interests of the people we represent”.

She continued:“Our support is firmly for a unitary Exeter, as presented by Exeter City Council to the minister; that option was not on the table for us to vote for today at Devon County Council.”

But Cllr McInnes said the report still left room for the new administration, which will be in place after May’s elections, to tweak existing options or even to suggest new ones.

Other councillors raised fears about the cost of reorganisation, not only the price of enacting the changes, but what the long-term financial picture would look like for the new unitary councils.

Cllr Caroline Leaver (Liberal Democrat, Barnstaple South) thought the cost would be borne by council taxpayers.

“We’re not going to get money from the government,” she said.

“We know this process will result in less money for councils whatever the shape is, and the money spent on the reorganisation itself will come out of council coffers or [day-to-day spending] budgets and could impact service delivery.”

Cllr Leaver highlighted Somerset as an example of a council that had become unitary around six years ago, but that the new Liberal Democrat administration had “inherited some considerable financial difficulties”.

Conservative member Cllr Jeff Trail (Exmouth) urged councillors to put “politics aside”.

“The government has forced our hand, but we will only get one chance to make this work and so I say we should put the people of Devon before politics,” he said.

The majority of councillors at the meeting voted to propose five options for new unitary councils in Devon, with Labour’s five members present voting against it.