Chris
Independent
Posts: 573
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Post by Chris on Mar 1, 2016 15:09:04 GMT
Smaller unitaries like the ones proposed in Oxfordshire are the way forward. It keeps power local, while still providing for efficiencies.
Larger strategic projects, and even service provision can be handled by joint boards. A full pooling of political power is not necessary
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cibwr
Plaid Cymru
Posts: 3,558
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Post by cibwr on Mar 1, 2016 15:18:05 GMT
Smaller unitaries like the ones proposed in Oxfordshire are the way forward. It keeps power local, while still providing for efficiencies. Larger strategic projects, and even service provision can be handled by joint boards. A full pooling of political power is not necessary Joint boards lack democratic accountability, they really are not a good solution.
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Post by greenhert on Mar 1, 2016 15:34:51 GMT
There is no need for this reorganisation at all-the authorities in Oxfordshire are fine the way they are. Oxford does not need unitary status either.
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Post by La Fontaine on Mar 1, 2016 16:05:35 GMT
Lib-Dems have floated merger of Newcastle & North Tyneside ie the former taking over the latter, in practice. Predictable howls of outrage.
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J.G.Harston
Lib Dem
Leave-voting Brexit-supporting Liberal Democrat
Posts: 13,620
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Post by J.G.Harston on Mar 1, 2016 16:22:44 GMT
Lib-Dems have floated merger of Newcastle & North Tyneside ie the former taking over the latter, in practice. Predictable howls of outrage. :head->wall: There seems to be a certain subsection of LibDems who think that communities have nothing to do with efficient carving up of geography for administrative purposes. That's how they end up supporting abominations such as 'West Barnsley and Ecclesall'. "It's just an arbitary chunk of 75,000 people for voting purposes, it doesn't matter what its contents are".
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Post by greatkingrat on Mar 1, 2016 16:26:48 GMT
My preferred model would be to keep the individual district councils who make the decisions on how to run the services, but with one county-wide council actually providing the services.
So there would be one county-wide refuse collection service, instead of five, but it would be possible for Cherwell to decide to have their bins collected weekly, while Vale of White Horse choose fortnightly (and they would be charged accordingly).
Hopefully this would give the benefits of economies of scale for unitaries, while still allowing local areas to make decisions about how their services are delivered.
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Post by Arthur Figgis on Mar 1, 2016 16:36:21 GMT
My preferred model would be to keep the individual district councils who make the decisions on how to run the services, but with one county-wide council actually providing the services. So there would be one county-wide refuse collection service, instead of five, but it would be possible for Cherwell to decide to have their bins collected weekly, while Vale of White Horse choose fortnightly (and they would be charged accordingly). Hopefully this would give the benefits of economies of scale for unitaries, while still allowing local areas to make decisions about how their services are delivered. I'd rather devolve the decision-making further- to the individual.
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maxque
Non-Aligned
Posts: 8,984
Member is Online
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Post by maxque on Mar 1, 2016 16:43:17 GMT
My preferred model would be to keep the individual district councils who make the decisions on how to run the services, but with one county-wide council actually providing the services. So there would be one county-wide refuse collection service, instead of five, but it would be possible for Cherwell to decide to have their bins collected weekly, while Vale of White Horse choose fortnightly (and they would be charged accordingly). Hopefully this would give the benefits of economies of scale for unitaries, while still allowing local areas to make decisions about how their services are delivered. I'd rather devolve the decision-making further- to the individual. You're aware it would be a logistical nightmare?
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Chris
Independent
Posts: 573
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Post by Chris on Mar 1, 2016 16:56:12 GMT
The current setup in Oxfordshire just isn't working. We have the Districts doing a fantastic job of making efficiencies, and often expanding service provision in some areas, meanwhile the County is slashing services, putting up tax, and continually moaning to the government about every issue.
I wouldn't be surprised if one of the drivers behind the Districts' proposals is the fact that the County keeps mooting the prospect of a county-wide unitary, so it can plunder the accounts of the Districts, and slash all of their services as well!
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Mar 1, 2016 17:16:39 GMT
The current setup in Oxfordshire just isn't working. We have the Districts doing a fantastic job of making efficiencies, and often expanding service provision in some areas, meanwhile the County is slashing services, putting up tax, and continually moaning to the government about every issue. This is because counties have all the high-spending services and all the services facing increasing demand. Putting in unitaries would be precisely no help with that. Counties are slashing services, putting up tax and moaning because of central government cuts, not because they're inherently inefficient.
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Post by finsobruce on Mar 1, 2016 18:03:13 GMT
Hasn't the city long desired unitary status? In common with a few other Labourish cities in two-tier areas, yes. Norwich and Exeter were "pickled" IIRC...
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Mar 1, 2016 18:40:05 GMT
TBF, in both cases (but particularly in the case of Norwich, because the real extent of the city goes quite a long way beyond the local government boundaries), the case on which unitary status was granted was particularly weak.
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Khunanup
Lib Dem
Portsmouth Liberal Democrats
Posts: 11,517
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Post by Khunanup on Mar 1, 2016 22:45:09 GMT
TBF, in both cases (but particularly in the case of Norwich, because the real extent of the city goes quite a long way beyond the local government boundaries), the case on which unitary status was granted was particularly weak. If you go back to the documentation pertaining to proposals for a unitary solution of Norfolk then our submission pretty much ticked all the boxes. An expanded Norwich was critical to making the whole thing work but you really need hinterland otherwise you just get situations where the economic driver in an area is cut off from the people who actually depend on it for services (see Southampton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Blackpool etc). I've said before, all unitary is the way to go, two tier is a poor, poor system and you have the ridiculous situation whereby some district councils are looking at abolishing their council tax levy completely as they can happily look for other solutions for the non-critical services they tend to run whereas counties and unitaries are often at the brink because of all the high level statutory services they have to run while getting swingeing cuts from central government to run them.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2016 1:45:39 GMT
No point making any bones about it at this distance - the unitaries for Exeter and Norwich were a Labour gerrymander, and not recommended by the LGBCE. Both are too small to be effective unitaries and unlike some of the larger cities that went unitary in the 1990s there is less of a case for their economic distinctiveness from the surrounding county. I yield to no one in my contempt for Pickles but he was right to cancel them.
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Adrian
Co-operative Party
Posts: 1,726
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Post by Adrian on Mar 25, 2016 0:55:19 GMT
Having an initial go at making new constituencies has reminded me what a lot of piddling councils there are still left in England. South Holland? Uttlesford? South Ribble? Rushmoor? Really? I'm not a fan of monstrosities like the two Cheshires, but there could certainly be some pairing up - for example the traditional parts of Lincolnshire.
It's also made me think that the system of urban and rural councils we had before 1974 was much more democratic than the "sphere of influence" model that the 1974 changes were based on. Can you imagine being a councillor for a rural ward sitting/sifting through the 80% of business that's irrelevant to you? Must be a bit like watching Midlands Today if you're from Leek or Ludlow and seeing all that "local news" from Birmingham and the Black Country.
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Post by Ben Walker on Mar 25, 2016 1:59:36 GMT
Craven? Shift Skipton to... probably Bradford, or Harrogate, and the remainder to either the aforementioned latter or Richmondshire?
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J.G.Harston
Lib Dem
Leave-voting Brexit-supporting Liberal Democrat
Posts: 13,620
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Post by J.G.Harston on Mar 25, 2016 2:39:09 GMT
Having an initial go at making new constituencies has reminded me what a lot of piddling councils there are still left in England. South Holland? Uttlesford? South Ribble? Rushmoor? Really? I'm not a fan of monstrosities like the two Cheshires, but there could certainly be some pairing up - for example the traditional parts of Lincolnshire. Lincolnshire is so rural it certainly looks like it would be better as the three 'parts'* plus City of Lincoln and Grimsby Urban. * I'm sure I've seen somewhere the Parts Of Lincolnshire called ridings.
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Post by finsobruce on Mar 25, 2016 9:02:07 GMT
Having an initial go at making new constituencies has reminded me what a lot of piddling councils there are still left in England. South Holland? Uttlesford? South Ribble? Rushmoor? Really? I'm not a fan of monstrosities like the two Cheshires, but there could certainly be some pairing up - for example the traditional parts of Lincolnshire. Lincolnshire is so rural it certainly looks like it would be better as the three 'parts'* plus City of Lincoln and Grimsby Urban. * I'm sure I've seen somewhere the Parts Of Lincolnshire called ridings.You have indeed: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey,_Lincolnshire And lets hear it for the Rural District of Sibsey..
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Khunanup
Lib Dem
Portsmouth Liberal Democrats
Posts: 11,517
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Post by Khunanup on Mar 25, 2016 9:16:38 GMT
Lincolnshire is so rural it certainly looks like it would be better as the three 'parts'* plus City of Lincoln and Grimsby Urban. * I'm sure I've seen somewhere the Parts Of Lincolnshire called ridings.You have indeed: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey,_Lincolnshire And lets hear it for the Rural District of Sibsey.. That doesn't say that, it says the Parts were subdivided into Ridings. Having grown up in Hastings I prefer Rapes...
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Post by Pete Whitehead on Mar 25, 2016 9:24:06 GMT
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