Press release
MPs give their backing to Keep Norfolk Local
Thursday 11 December 2008.
Norfolk Council leaders met Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs in the House of Commons yesterday in their latest bid to persuade the government to give more time for consultation on its controversial plans for abolishing District Councils in the county.
MPs from all parties agreed that the government’s proposals to do away with District Councils and establish new “unitary councils” would be disastrous for Norfolk.
Richard Bacon MP (Conservative, South Norfolk) said, “The problem with the government’s approach is that there are very high risks and costs up front and any benefits are largely theoretical. The right way forward is to make sure the existing system works better.” Richard Bacon also asked, “When was the last local government reorganisation that led to lower council tax bills?”
Dr Ian Gibson MP (Labour, Norwich North) said, “Unitary status cannot be as high on the agenda as a year ago. We will see how things develop over the next few weeks but the priority for councils at this time should be to work together to support people who are out of work not concentrating on setting up new councils.”
Norman Lamb MP (Liberal Democrat, North Norfolk) said, “This whole process of local government reorganisation is flawed. It would be an outrage for the government to go down this route.”
In addition to the local MPs several members of the House of Lords (including Lords Ullswater and Howard and Baroness Shephard) came along to the meeting with Norfolk Councillors and business people. They heard that an overwhelming number of Norfolk people would prefer to keep the current arrangements for local government (84% according to a recent Norfolk-wide YouGov opinion poll) and that 90% of local people thought unitary authorities would lead to higher council taxes.
Baroness Shephard – the Conservative Peer and former MP for South West Norfolk – urged the District Councils to step up their campaign and insisted those who opposed unitary councils in Norfolk would find substantial support in both houses of Parliament.
MPs and Peers later joined campaigners as they went to hand in a letter to the government’s Boundary Committee. The Boundary Committee is now scheduled to advise the government on the future of local government in Norfolk by mid February.
The letter sought clarification on the government’s recently published new guidance on how the proposals for local government reorganisation will be assessed. This new guidance means the Boundary Committee must publish a revised financial analysis for each of the Norfolk unitary models. The letter also requested that the District Councils be allowed 12 weeks to prepare an authoritative, meaningful and objective response to the affordability proposals published on 21 November 2008.
Councillor Nick Daubney, who chaired yesterday’s Parliamentary meeting, said, “The whole process of local government reorganisation in Norfolk is descending into farce. The government should allow a reasonable and sensible period for proper public consultation or they should simply drop their proposals.”
