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City of Durham Council says 'NO' to Unitary Council
Wednesday 24th January 2007
City of Durham Council has responded to the White Paper on the future of Local Government by writing to the Secretary of State outlining the case for retaining the current structure of County and District Councils but with enhanced working arrangements.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Fraser Reynolds said:
"Over the past three and a half years we have made significant progress as an Authority and for the third year in succession our Council Tax increase will be below the rate of inflation. We are acknowledged by the Audit Commission as being able to deliver good quality services that are value for money. Our desire is to continue our development as an Authority, supporting County Wide joint arrangements, without being sidetracked for the next few years in the establishment of a new organisation or potential organisations."
City of Durham Council offers good quality, cost effective services with a high level of public satisfaction. For example, the Council has a good track record on improving the environment winning the 'Britain in Bloom' Gold Award and is one of the five cleanest districts in the country.
The Authority has established various partnership arrangements and will continue to do so to provide even better 'value for money' services. The major project to replace the swimming baths could not have been undertaken without private finance and agreements with public sector providers. Without this unique partnership the current baths would have had to close and swimming would have been lost to the people of Durham.
There does not appear to be any appetite for change by residents in County Durham. The Referendum on the future of Local Government in Durham carried out in 2004 was inconclusive however, the Mori Survey which was undertaken by the Local Government Commission headed by Sir John Banham indicated that 63% of people living outside Darlington supported the status quo, 13.1% higher than the overall support which resulted in Darlington becoming a unitary authority. Whilst Unitary Authorities may work well in tight urban areas such as Newcastle there is no evidence that they will be successful in a large rural area like County Durham. "
Coun Reynolds added: "In theory there should be savings but there is no evidence that large unitary authorities will ultimately save money. Most re-organisations don't. Residents who appear to be happy with the current arrangements will be faced with years of upheaval, uncertainty and disrupted services."