Council leaders meet to debate rival devolution plans for Leicestershire and Rutland

The government is committed to ending the existing two-tier structure to remove duplication of services and release extra funding for communities.

Leicestershire County Council favours setting up a single council for Leicestershire, with a city council for Leicester with expanded boundaries and a separate authority for Rutland, all over seen by a Mayor.

Leaders of the seven district councils, including Melton, plus the Rutland County Council leader, want Leicestershire divided into North and South Leicestershire Councils, with Melton and Rutland part of the north, plus a city council with existing boundaries and a Mayor overseeing it all.

Leicester City Council has also indicated it would forward an alternative plan which would involve expanded city boundaries to ensure the new council was financially viable.

County council leader Deborah Taylor invited all the leaders from the various councils to yesterday’s meeting to talk about their ideas transparently and openly – opposing sides have previously accused the others of not engaging before submitting their rival plans.

After the meeting, Councillor Taylor said: “The meeting was constructive in that it confirmed agreement to seeking devolution across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

“In the first place, however, local government reorganisation is needed and there are differing views as to a unitary structure.

"It’s therefore expected that there will be three interim plans – one from the city, one from the county council and one from the districts and Rutland, to be submitted by March 21.

“There was agreement to meet again after the county council elections and to discuss the final proposals due in November, which will need to take into account the government feedback on the interim proposals.”

Meanwhile, County Hall has welcomed newly-published research comparing the savings generated by bigger and smaller new unitary councils.

Published today (Friday), the findings show that replacing the two-tier system with a new wave of councils in England with populations of at least 500,000 could save at least £1.8bn over five years.

The report – drawing on independent PwC data and produced by cross-party organisation County Councils Network (CCN) – says that in contrast, splitting two-tier areas into 58 new unitary authorities based on a minimum population of 300,000 would cost £850M over five years and deliver no savings.

Councillor Taylor said: “These findings are stark. Getting better value for our tax payers is a huge driver behind reorganising local government so it would make no sense to plump for an option where we don’t save money.

“There’s clear blue water between the ideas on the table. The PwC/CCN data backs up our vision for One Council for Leicestershire as the only viable option – saving £30M a year, protecting the services you value and reducing confusion over who does what."

However, the district council leaders argue that their plan, where the North and South Leicestershire Councils would each govern 400,000 residents, would ensure communities retained a local voice in government. They say the single Leicestershire council for 800,000 people, proposed by the county council, would be far too large.

Click HERE to complete a devolution survey organised by County Hall by March 18.