Strong case for Worcestershire unitary, says leader

There is a “strong case” for creating a Worcestershire unitary authority, according to the current county council leader.

THERE is a “strong case” for creating a Worcestershire unitary authority, according to the current county council leader.

Simon Geraghty told a full council meeting today there is “no circumstance” in which Worcestershire’s county and district councils will continue in their current form.

Cllr Geraghty has written to the government asking for May’s county council elections to be postponed.

This, he says, would give the council time to come up with the plan needed to “unlock devolution for Worcestershire”.

Devolution wasn’t included on the agenda for the council meeting but in an urgent question, Cllr Matt Jenkins said: “The minister for local government has said local elections can only be delayed if there is a credible plan for reorganisation.

“The leader has asked for elections to be delayed so a plan can be created and five out of six district council leaders do not support merging with Worcestershire.

“Does the leader agree with me that there are currently no grounds to delay elections as there is no credible plan?”

Cllr Geraghty said the government has been clear that all 21 two-tier authorities will be abolished.

“It’s not up for debate,” he said. “All of those areas will have to go unitary.

“They’ve set out very clear and ambitious timescales – and it doesn’t matter whether you’re having elections or not. We’ll be expected to put in interim proposals by March.”

If the government agrees to postpone Worcestershire’s council elections, the authority will have until May to submit a final proposal. If the election goes ahead, it will have until the autumn.

“My belief is that we need to get on with this,” said Cllr Geraghty. “The government wants unitaries of 500,000 and above. We have 600,000 residents so we’re just above that threshold and 80 percent of our spend is already at a Worcestershire level.

“We are a historic county. It’s very clear what Worcestershire is and we meet that criteria so I think we have a clear case to make to government.”

Cllr Jenkins said he had concerns about the “democratic deficit” of delaying elections and hoped the government didn’t accept the bid to delay the election.

Cllr Geraghty said deputy prime minister Angela Rayner put it well when she said it would be “ludicrous” for councils to hold elections if they were planning to reorganise.