‘Why can't this wait until the secretary of state tells us which proposal for Gloucestershire we need to implement?' one council leader asked incredulously at our recent meeting with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government about structural changes orders (SCOs).
The seven councils in Gloucestershire worked closely together on the joint submission of the three proposals and have set up a joint implementation programme to be ready to deliver whichever is ‘the one'. However, this strong relationship will be put under strain if we have to try to agree answers to some of the questions on proposals we may never have to implement
