WEST WORCESTERSHIRE MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has shared her views on the county-wide re-organisation of local government.
The changes would see Worcestershire’s six district councils abolished, but it is not yet clear what would replace them.
The County Council itself has announced it would be backing a plan for a single unitary authority to serve the whole county.
The government plans to reorganise local government so district and county councils are going to be replaced with larger, unitary councils. The final decision on the future structure of local government will be made next year.
The reasoning behind these changes is to create a simpler, more sustainable local government structure.
It is hoped it will improve access to services for residents, help councils withstand financial shocks, support the local economy and save taxpayers cash.
Worcestershire County Council says a single unitary authority would retain the current and long-established county boundary to keep the county together.
The MP has written to the Minister responsible for the local government re-organisation reluctantly backing the ‘One Worcestershire’ plan which has been identified as one of the options since the re-organisation was first proposed at the end of last year.
Dame Harriett also assessed the proposals submitted by the district councils which split Worcestershire into two new northern and southern council areas.
Dame Harriett said: “Wychavon has always been seen as one of the very best councils in the land, so it seems a great shame that it is to be abolished at the stroke of a Labour Minister’s pen.
“I can’t say that anyone in my fifteen years as an MP has ever asked for this.
“Nevertheless, it seems to be happening, so I have written to Secretary of State Steve Reed setting out my views on this.
“I think that councils like Wychavon have done an amazing job keeping council tax low and delivering services efficiently and I pay tribute to its leadership over two decades. The district councils in the south of the county are already sharing services to save money.”
Dame Harriett has said of the options being considered, a a One Worcestershire plan is probably the ‘least worst’.
She added: “I feel that my constituents identify with Worcestershire as a geographical area and it means that vital services that have always been combined like Highways, Adult and Children’s Services would answer to one strand of political leadership rather than two.”
