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As Wiltshire CC goes to battle with its unitaries over unitary status, Jamie Hailstone looks at the bid Mortar shells and bullets have been flying across Salisbury Plain ever since it was first bought by the Ministry of Defence in 1897. But in the last few months, the local authorities across Wiltshire have been firing plenty of shots of their own, as the battle for unitary status continues. The county council is one of 10 on the final DCLG shortlist, and although its bid was welcomed by North Wiltshire DC, the remaining three districts have all come out in strong opposition against it. Wiltshire CC has proposed a single, county-wide authority with 98 members, as opposed to the current 49. Council leader, Jane Scott, says the new council will mean savings of £15m a year, which can be ploughed back into improving services and keeping council tax low. ‘It's clear to me that local government is not fit for purpose in two tier areas,' she tells The MJ. ‘We know there will be more pressures on the delivery of council services in future. ‘There will be more service-users and, at the same time, they will not be any more money in the pot. ‘I have seen district councils in the county struggling to keep leisure services going.' The leader continues: ‘The public do not know who delivers their services, and they don't care.' Read more on LocalGov.co.uk @ MPs in joint approach to block Wiltshire CC's bid for unitary status @ Government unveils 16-strong unitary shortlist @ Cabinet ‘was split' over unitary decision One of the biggest arguments against a county-wide unitary has been the centralisation of services to Trowbridge, but Cllr Scott says the new authority will reach out to local communities. ‘My vision is that local people will know there is a meeting every second Tuesday in each of their areas, where all local public services get together. My argument back to the districts is that the county council currently delivers 80% of public services across the county. Yes, we will lose local councils, but we will not lose the local services. Wiltshire CC will be the local council.' She adds that the new organisation ‘will be fit for the 21st century'. ‘I happen to think county councils are important, but overriding all of this is our job as elected members to provide the best services with the best value for money,' says Cllr Scott. ‘If someone shops at their local supermarket, they don't care about where the head office might be. Likewise, people do not understand the differences between the layers of local government. ‘They are not interested in structures. They just want good services, sound local and transparent government, and above all else, value for money.' Wiltshire's chief executive, Keith Robinson, points to the large duplication in the public sector as an important reason for going down the unitary path. ‘The Government invited our proposal because we simply have to find more efficient and cost-effective ways of working together,' he says. ‘I would really welcome an open debate about the alternatives. ‘We also have to realise that local government has to change, in order to become more cost effective and efficient. ‘Why have five organisations, five management teams, five back offices, five sets of councillors, five sets of property – if one can do the job?' The three councils of Salisbury, West Wiltshire and Kennet DCs have been campaigning against the county council's bid, and have produced plans of their own for improved, two-tier working. Almost 200 staff and members from Kennet DC recently held a demonstration against Wiltshire CC's plans, and marched through the town of Devizes. The district's anti-unitary campaign has also been backed by MPs Andrew Murrison, Michael Ancram and Robert Key. Mr Ancram says: ‘The key to good local government is local accountability and accessibility, knowing your local councillors because they are local, and being able to get to them when you need to. ‘The bigger the local government unit, the remoter and less accessible it becomes.' And West Wiltshire chief executive, Andrew Pate, says the county's bid amounts to a ‘hostile takeover' of the districts. ‘It's not the right option for an area which is as large and as rural as this. It's not a natural community,' he says. ‘I think the county council would be increasingly bureaucratic and inaccessible.' Mr Pate says the Customers First partnership, between all four districts, the county and the police, already demonstrates how the two tiers of local government can work together throughout the county. He adds that the partnership has generated £7m of savings and now ensures 80% of queries to councils are dealt with through one call. West Wiltshire DC is also planning to hold a MORI poll on the county's bid, which Mr Pate says will give local people the chance to air their views. ‘We are not necessarily anti unitary authorities. What we are against is a unitary authority in Wiltshire,' says Salisbury DC chief executive, David Crook. ‘It's too big and and it is complicated by the existence of Salisbury Plain, which is twice the size of the Isle of Wight, and right in the middle of the county. ‘We are also not convinced that the county's case is very well thought out, either in financial or governance terms.' He continues: ‘We have submitted a proposal to the DCLG for improved, two-tier working in Wiltshire. ‘It's certainly our opinion that many of the efficiencies needed can actually be achieved within the existing two-tier structure. ‘It's more than a temporary distraction. The county council, in its case, talks about it taking five years to create savings. ‘I just think those five years would be better spent improving service delivery rather than ripping everything up and starting afresh.' And the chief executive of Kennet DC, Mark Boden, reckons the proposed new single authority ‘will be an unpopular unitary for a start – and doomed to fail'. ‘With the help and support of our MPs, we will continue to fight this submission, by showing the secretary of state that we can achieve efficiencies and improvements without the costs and upheaval of reorganisation,' he adds.

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WHITEHALL

Wiltshire districts come under fire

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