Councils look set for 12 weeks of fighting after having had to wait until the 11th hour to see the Government's unitary shortlist. The list of 16 local authorities contained all 10 county council unitary bids, as widely predicted, and a few surprises in the shape of three competing borough bids in Bedfordshire, Northumberland and Cheshire. The list was expected to have been published last week, but did not surface until Tuesday morning, amid rumours of last-minute revisions, moments before the purdah rules for local elections kicked in. If all 10 county councils get the final go-ahead from the Government to become unitary authorities in the summer, then The MJ estimates that 55 district councils will be scrapped. The gloves are already off in Cheshire, where the county council's bid for a single unitary and Chester City Council's bid for two unitaries are both on the list. ‘We understand that secretary of state, Ruth Kelly, must at least consider views on the county proposals, but they are unworkable,' said Chester City Council chief executive, Paul Durham. Said Ipswich BC chief executive James Hehir: ‘This is the toughest thing we have ever had to do. Everyone here has been on tenterhooks.' Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski asked the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, on Monday, to stop the announcement because electioneering had already started in his local area, but the Speaker refused. Oxford City Council leader John Goddard said he was ‘very disappointed by the Government's short-sighted decision' to leave it off the list. Stevenage BC leader and vice chair of the Districts' Sounding Board, Sharon Taylor, called on the Government to lift purdah restrictions and limit the amount councils spent on unitary campaigns. She said: ‘It will be difficult for councillors in districts, not just because of purdah, but because they are also busy standing for election.' All 16 bids will now be subject to a 12-week public consultation, before a final decision is made in July. ‘The bids which local authorities submitted show that they are up for improving the services they offer to their communities by making them more responsive, effective and efficient,' said local government minister, Phil Woolas.
