Merging councils risks ‘alienating’ communities, says DCN

The District Councils Network is urging ministers not to implement proposals to scrap 213 smaller councils and replace them with 25 larger bodies.

The proposal was recently voiced by the County Council Network, which argued that single unitary councils could deliver £3 billion worth of savings over five years and ‘maximise’ the benefits of economic growth and housing policy.

However, the DCN says that merging some district and county councils in England risks ‘alienating’ communities and that creating ‘enormous all-purpose authorities’ would ‘dilute the voice of residents’.

The government is planning a reorganisation of local government in England, with more directly-elected mayors, more unitary authorities and stronger town and parish councils, which it says will devolve power to local people. Outside the main metropolitan areas, English local authorities currently operate in a two-tier system, with smaller district councils working under larger county councils.

District councils say the plan outlined by the CCN would create the largest local authorities in Europe, some ‘122 times larger than the average council in Germany, 14 times larger than Denmark, and five times large than the current average for all councils in England, which is already the most centralised country in Europe’.

The organisation’s new report says that the new-style councils would be 4.5 times less representative of local communities than existing councils, leading to the further centralisation of power.

John Fuller, leader of South Norfolk District Council and chairman of the District Councils' Network, said: "Whether you are talking about supporting shielded residents, housing rough sleepers, getting business grants to where they are needed as well as providing essential services to our communities, districts have delivered comprehensively and at speed, because we know our residents and businesses. Any proposals to abolish districts and transfer services into new enormous councils would be absolute folly and uproot local government from local communities.”