Cotswold Briefing Note

WEST COTSWOLDS OXFORDSHIRE A NEW COUNCIL FIT FOR THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY Briefing Note What is the background and why has the suggestion of a new Unitary Council come up now? The government is currently in the process of negotiating Devolution Deals as a means of providing greater powers and funding to stimulate economic growth locally. It is keen to use this opportunity to reform the way that public services are designed and delivered locally, insisting that new collaborative governance arrangements are put in place as part of any proposals. More recently the government has stipulated that if deals are to be done then they need to be accompanied by either a directly-elected mayor or, in the case of areas that have both a county council and district councils, a move to unitary councils. The Cities and Devolution Bill, which is entering into its final stages before becoming law, provides the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with new simplified powers to create unitary councils which have local support. This can be viewed in a slightly longer context which has seen a number of powers traditionally held by county councils moved to other bodies. For example, the role of county councils in terms of Education has changed dramatically with the introduction of Academies. Likewise the introduction of Local Enterprise Partnerships has resulted in some power relating to economic growth and strategic infrastructure delivery being passed to new bodies. It also seems that grant funding to county councils has been hit harder than for other types of authority. What is being proposed? The proposal is to consider creating a New Unitary Council based upon the existing boundaries of Cotswold and West Oxfordshire District Councils, serving a population of 192,795 and covering 726 square miles. This would mean that, if approved by government, all existing County functions currently delivered within the Cotswold District Council area would transfer to the new locally- based Unitary Council. Cotswold District Council already has extensive shared services with West Oxfordshire District Council and has collaborated on developing local authority-owned companies to facilitate shared commissioning and shared service delivery. It is, however, recognised that this proposal is more complicated, given that the new Council will straddle two county areas; and as part of our further work on testing the viability of the proposed Unitaries, we will engage with stakeholders in Gloucestershire to identify the optimum approach. The two areas have a lot in common - in terms of population demographics, environment, and geography; being largely rural-based interspersed with historic market towns. The Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty spans both Districts and there is an internationally-significant tourism market shared by both. Many of the challenges we face are common, such as protecting our unique landscape and built environment; tackling flooding and drainage issues; ambulance response times; and improving mobile phone and broadband connectivity. Unitary councils with a geography that matches the challenges of their communities can have the insight and focus needed to tackle these structural barriers by giving a priority to what is really important to our residents. At the moment, residents are not clear as to who to contact to get an issue sorted. In a unitary council scenario we can be clear with residents. The council - your council - is responsible and will be able to resolve it. We will be more accountable to our residents. Will the Cotswolds remain in Gloucestershire? Yes. The historic county of Gloucestershire will not disappear. The Cotswolds will always stay firmly rooted within Gloucestershire. It is important to differentiate between historic borders and delivery of services. There are many examples where new unitary councils have been created within counties, and residents and organisations in those areas still refer to themselves as being part of that county. Examples include Swindon in Wiltshire; South Gloucestershire (which is part of a separate economic region); Poole and Bournemouth in Dorset; and Southampton and Portsmouth in Hampshire. In Berkshire and Bedfordshire, where the County Councils were abolished in favour of unitary councils, residents and communities still refer to themselves as being in Berkshire and Bedfordshire respectively. We do not believe that the proposals need to affect the traditional civic functions of the County of Gloucestershire. Would the new Unitary Council be big enough to provide all the services required of it? Yes. With a population of 192,795 a Unitary Council based upon Cotswold and West Oxfordshire would be the 26th biggest out of 56 non-metropolitan unitaries in England. However, population size is a relatively crude assessment tool, so any submission we make to government needs to demonstrate that our proposals are viable and sustainable, particularly in relation to areas such as Children and Adult Services. The intention of the Districts in making this proposal is to bring about a new operating model for local government. District councils locally have led the way on joint working and developing new business models. Cotswold is working with three other district councils on an extensive shared services programme. The savings for the public purse in these examples are in excess of 30% compared with traditional direct service delivery approaches. We are commissioning independent expert advice to test out our preferred option against other alternatives to ensure that it is viable, sustainable and in the best interests of residents, businesses and communities. It is important that any proposals do not in themselves make local government unviable in the rest of Gloucestershire. Will there be any impact on other Public Bodies in Gloucestershire? The proposals do not envisage any changes to existing public bodies operating in Gloucestershire, other than the County Council. So there will be no change to Gloucestershire Police or the Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group. We would also not be promoting any change to the Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service. There will also be no impact upon “The Cotswolds” Parliamentary Constituency or on Parish Boundaries. It may make things simpler for town/parish councils/meetings insofar as they will have one contact for all local government services. The new Unitary Council will need to work across two adjoining public sector systems - in Gloucestershire and in Oxfordshire. The shared officers that work for both Cotswold and West Oxfordshire have successfully been doing this for the last seven years. Indeed, working in two systems has allowed us to pick out the best from both systems for the benefit of all of our residents. The new Unitary Council would continue playing a positive role supporting the Local Enterprise Partnership (GFirst LEP) through the Gloucestershire Joint Economic and Growth Committee. Where will the new Council get expert advice and support to deliver the new services? If the proposals get the go ahead from government, County Council staff currently working within the Cotswold District area, such as on roads maintenance and libraries, will transfer to the new Council. Agreement between the newly-proposed Council and the County Council as to the appropriate division of specialist strategic staff will also be required. The two District Councils already operate a system whereby they share specialist staff and services whilst retaining policy and decision-making roles. There may be many areas where such discussions with the County Council could benefit both organisations. What will happen to Council Tax? It is not possible to say what the impact on Council Tax will be until all assessments and funding streams are disaggregated and re-established for the new Council. This is a critical piece of work that the detailed study will need to establish. Will the public get a say? Yes. Before the government will consider any proposal to create new unitary councils, the Councils need to have undertaken public consultation on their proposals. It is envisaged that a detailed study will be undertaken and formally considered by each council before being published for consultation with the public. This we anticipate to be in the early part of the summer. We will then consider all of the feedback we receive before considering whether to pursue a formal proposal to government, which is not likely to be before October. How long have negotiations being going on with West Oxfordshire? Discussions amongst Oxfordshire Councils started informally between politicians in January 2016. As part of those early deliberations, West Oxfordshire was keen to explore the extension of their successful joint working relationship with the Cotswolds, so advice was sought from government officials on the process for creating unitaries and whether there were any barriers to creating councils which crossed different economic areas and county council boundaries. This advice was received on 16th February. Once confirmation had been received that there was no legal barrier to the proposal, Council Leaders met on 22nd February where a preferred approach was agreed. We also agreed to take informal political soundings both from local MPs and from our local political administrations before going public. This was completed by the last Council on the evening of Wednesday 24th February. Consequently, Thursday 25th February was the first opportunity to make an announcement that we were confident was both feasible and had local political support. Naturally we recognise the need to hear the views and concerns of our partners so that these can be incorporated into our detailed study. How does this affect Gloucestershire’s Devolution Bid agreed through Leadership Gloucestershire? We do not think our plans affect the Gloucestershire Devolution Bid at all. The reality is that the Gloucestershire Bid appears to have stalled because the governance arrangements do not include a directly-elected mayor or unitary councils, which is a requirement for them to be pursued at this time.

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