Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to update the Executive, councillors and the public on progress since the Council resolution of 22 July 2020, and to allocate a budget for the collaborative work across Surrey district and borough councils on local government reorganisation.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Executive:

1.    Notes the progress in exploring local government opportunities in Surrey, and

2.    Allocates a budget of a further £20,000 to support preparatory work for a unitary council proposal taking the total to £30,000.

29.1     The Leader referred to the comprehensive report in the agenda, but noted that the matter was progressing rapidly and there were a number of updates to report:

·         That afternoon, Simon Clarke, Minister for Local Government, had resigned and been replaced by Luke Hall.

·         There was ‘informed speculation’ about there being a number of waves of unitarisation, and Surrey being in the first tranche.

·         The Devolution White Paper had been delayed to October. Surrey County Council had moved their Extraordinary Council meeting from 29 September to 13 October, and there would be a Surrey County Councillors’ briefing on 29 September.

·         Surrey Borough and District Leaders had confirmed the appointment of KPMG who were developing an alternative proposal for local government in Surrey.

·         Surrey County Council had commissioned a MORI telephone poll to generate evidence to inform their case for a single Surrey unitary.

·         The Chairman of the Local Resilience Forum had written to the Leaders of the Districts and Boroughs to commend their response to the Covid pandemic crisis, which had been heartening to receive and greatly appreciated.

·         There was a petition on the Surrey County Council website from RASSU – Residents Against a Single Surrey Unitary – against a single Surrey unitary, which a number of political groups had endorsed.

29.2     Turning to the report, this clarified the distinction between Unitary Authorities and Combined Authorities; the government’s current criteria for unitary proposals including a strong level of local support; and the need for an increased budget to support the work being undertaken by KPMG to develop an alternative proposal for local government in Surrey. The Council resolution of 22 July had asked the Leadership to write to neighbouring councils outside of Surrey to explore interest in cross county boundary unitary councils. The report provided feedback from neighbouring councils and civil servants, that clearly indicated that this would not be a viable option to pursue.

29.3     Cllr Robert Knowles commended the very thorough agenda report. It was revealing that neighbours in Hampshire and Sussex were not keen to explore unitary authorities, and only Surrey was rushing ahead to grab power. The Daily Telegraph had reported earlier in the week that the government wanted elected mayors for rural areas, and had grave concerns about the expense of such an approach and the cost to council tax payers. He had no faith in the outcome of the Surrey County Council survey, and he urged that the work of KPMG consider all options, including no change.

29.4     Cllr Jerry Hyman noted the rumours and reports circulating, the delay in the White Paper, and the rumours of five councils being in the first wave of unitary councils, including Surrey. He hoped that KPMG were able to learn from the experience of other councils who had already begun their journey toward unitary councils. It was also important to remember that this might never happen; it was not a sensible time to be re-organising local government, and it was important not to be wasting money.

29.5     Cllr Follows agreed that he expected the poll questions to be highly leading to generate the evidence that Surrey wanted. All the Districts and Boroughs were contributing equally to fund the KPMG work. None of them wanted to have to do this, and they had been forced to do so entirely because of the approach of Surrey County Council. He fully expected that the clear lack of support would cause the government to pause, and the Surrey bid to falter.

29.6     On the recommendation of the Leader, the Executive RESOLVED to:

1.    Note the progress in exploring local government opportunities in Surrey, and

2.    Allocate a budget of a further £20,000 to support preparatory work for a unitary council proposal taking the total to £30,000.