The battle lines may be drawn on unitary bids across the country, but the frontline in Ipswich is clearer than most. Ipswich BC's swanky new offices, with its stark white walls and gleaming glass, stare across the road at the equally new county hall. The frontline, which divides the two buildings, is Russell Road. Strategically placed in the glass frontage of Ipswich's reception is a poster for the council's unitary bid – glaring defiantly at the county colleagues opposite. Ipswich is different from its surrounding county. Largely rural Suffolk may have its own issues, but in Ipswich it is urban problems that come to the fore. The town most recently hit the headlines when a serial killer murdered several local prostitutes – hardly the image you would want for a thriving community. There is also a big drug problem and issues surrounding the large immigrant population – there are 68 different languages spoken in the area. On the plus side, the expanding town – the population is currently around 118,000 but it expects to hit 150,000 in ten years time – is concentrating on regeneration. The borough is also working hard on its arts and culture programmes. Ipswich chief executive James Hehir says the bid already has the support of the 13 county councillors who represent the town in Suffolk. He describes the two-tier system as ‘bureaucratic, time-consuming and difficult to deal with'. ‘Being a unitary would help us focus more on Ipswich. The buck will stop here,' he says. ‘We would be able to have the money from the LAA focused on Ipswich priorities, not county priorities.' As well as refusing to consider the prospect of the unitary bid failing, he says he is aiming for Ipswich to be the regional centre by 2020. Of Suffolk CC, he says: ‘You can't truly focus on neighbourhoods if you are that widespread.' So how would the small borough take on the tasks currently handled by the county? Mr Hehir says: ‘We have lots of people working here who have worked in unitaries – it's not rocket science.' There are plans for shared services and contracting out anything which can't be handled in-house – possibly even contracting them back to the county. The county, though, has claimed this undermines the whole reason for shifting to unitary structure in the first place. Suffolk is, understandably, against the proposals. For starters, Ipswich has estimated that, by going unitary, it would take around 20% out of the county budget – leaving Suffolk with a 20% deficit. It is something the chief executive of Suffolk CC, Michael More, is all too aware of. If it did lose 20% of its grant, the impact on county services ‘would be dire'. But he claims the district has got its sums wrong – or has been ‘overly optimistic' in its grant, savings and transition costs. But it is not his only objection to Ipswich's bid. ‘We are very concerned that Ipswich is too small. It would be one of the smallest unitaries in the country.' Not only would it mean capacity problems, but it also impacts on the economy. Much of the income for the area comes from projects based just outside the borders of the borough. Instead of the unitary bid, Mr More wants to work with Ipswich to give the district more of a voice within the county. He says it is ‘imperative' they find a way to get the two-tier system to work better. There are plans to delegate powers to a body representing Ipswich, Suffolk CC and the adjacent districts so they can have more say over local issues. Now it has emerged that Ipswich will face one further hurdle. Plans outlined last week by the DCLG to limit the number of unitaries for financial reasons could have a big impact on its bid. Not only does the bid have to be viable, it now also has to beat several others in its viability to ensure it is in with a chance of success. In his true confident – or perhaps stubborn – style, James Hehir is refusing to believe the changes will have any impact. He said ‘ We are confident that our bid is strong enough to come through any prioritisation process.' But whatever way the decision on the Ipswich unitary bid goes, the councils will still sit on either side of Russell Road within spitting distance of each other. Let's just hope no-one is spitting. n
