Local Government Reorganisation is causing a lot of discussion at the moment.
First it is probably useful to explain that in West Bridgford we pay our council tax to Rushcliffe Borough Council who provide services like parks and rubbish collection. But Rushcliffe then pass on most of the money to Nottinghamshire County Council (NottsCC) who provide key services like roads, adult social care, and children’s services. Most areas of Rushcliffe also have a Town or Parish council, but we don’t in West Bridgford.
In the City – which includes Clifton for some reason- there is just one council that does all these things (“a unitary authority”), so you cannot compare the City to Rushcliffe.
The Government want all areas to have unitary authorities (getting rid of Boroughs but retaining parish/town councils) to remove a layer of local government.
There are currently various options for reconfiguring the councils, being considered by the various councils currently involved. There were originally 12 options but they have selected 3 to take forward. I don’t understand how these have been chosen as I dont think any represent a sustainable solution which is one of the requirements of any new plan.
I support the principle of Local Government Reorganization
As a local and county councillor I have long been aware of problems with borough councils, particularly Rushcliffe:
- Boroughs are an additional level of government we don’t need: most of the council tax we pay already goes to NottsCC.
- There is duplication between the County and Borough, e.g. Rushcliffe and NottsCC each mow the grass on one side of the pavements in Abbey Park, Rushcliffe collect the rubbish, but NottsCC runs the recycling centres, housing is dealt with by Rushcliffe, but adult social care is dealt with by NottsCC.
- Boroughs are too large to be local and too small to be useful. As a County Councillor I see questions that are sent to Parish/Town Councils elsewhere, for instance on local grit stores, flood wardens or funding to look after local verges, and most people want West Bridgford Park to be run by and for West Bridgford residents. Meanwhile Rushcliffe does not manage its own payroll- it is provided by Gedling.
- Rushcliffe has a very “hands-off” approach to running things- this is a respectable political position, albeit not one I agree with. But it has consequences, for instance we have no way of holding the leisure centres to account as Rushcliffe has outsourced them.
- Rushcliffe Borough Council is largely led from the villages: in my opinion it doesn’t give enough weight to the views of urban residents in West Bridgford.
West Bridgford had an Urban District Council, similar to a town council until the 1970s – many people still remember its buses running from the site that is now the new Pumphouse estate. And as I have said, the rest of Rushcliffe has Parish or Town Councils now. I think West Bridgford would be better served if, for instance, the County took over rubbish collection, most verge maintenance, and economic development, and a local Town Council managed local parks and green spaces and events etc.
I agree with need Local Government Organization, but only if we get a Town Council to be on an equal footing with most of the rest of Nottinghamshire. (I have recently written an separate blog on this).
I do not want to separate Rushcliffe from the rest of the County: I want to bring back ancient Nottinghamshire
In terms of what should happen to the County, I don’t think Rushcliffe, The City and Beeston/Gedling can be merged, particularly because 80% of our council tax is spent in the north of the County (Ashfield and Mansfield). If we split off, those areas will quickly become broke.
I want to go back to the way things were before the 1990s reorganisation, with a single unitary Nottinghamshire County Council covering the whole of Nottinghamshire including our City. We have recently adopted this flag across the whole historic county!
As residents of West Bridgford we want to be able to have an impact on what is going on in the City. Right now, if people ask me about the layout of Trent Bridge, or the junction on the other side of Lady Bay Bridge, or the redevelopment of the Broadmarsh or even the public toilets in the City, I have to say ‘sorry but that is nothing to do with us‘.
There is a single economic community across most of Nottinghamshire and the City. People in West Bridgford go to the City to work, people in the City provide many of our services in West Bridgford. Nottinghamshire has had largely the same boundaries since the Domesday book and has been around since the 6th century. It seems to be defined by the Pennines, Trent and maybe the old Fosse Way, and it is Trent flooding and the A46 (Fosse Way) that still unites most of Nottinghamshire in many discussions!
An advantage of simply bringing the City and County together is that there would not need to be any immediate upheaval in service; changes could be made at a sensible pace rather than overnight which will be better for residents and for staff- any reorganization must protect staff who work so hard in Rushcliffe and NottsCC to support us all
One thing is clear: local government has been starved of funds over the last 15 years and this has really impacted the so called “upper tier” and “unitary” authorities like NottsCC and the City which both have to provide adult social care. Councils like Rushcliffe is certainly wealthy but it has been protected from the worst of the impact of austerity. Reorganization is not a excuse for continued underfunding. A year ago I wrote about why our city is broke.
So basically, I want to go back to the old days with a West Bridgford Town Council for local things, and Nottinghamshire in its historical boundaries for key public services. This would reduce duplication but needs to be done in a way that protects staff and allows them to provide even more valuable services. Reorganisation cannot be an excuse to continue the severe underfunding of local government which started with the austerity policy of the 2010s.
West Bridgford is our town and we should decide what happens in our parks, play areas and events. Nottingham is our city and we should have a say in what happens there. Nottinghamshire is our county and we want to stay part of it.
It would be fair to point out that what at this point, that I want I am proposing is not currently one of the options on the table. But it was the first of twelve plans initially proposed by the consultants who were brought in on this. I cannot understand why the council leaders excluded it out of hand, unless they wanted reorganization to fail.
The Labour Party in Rushcliffe 
Th
LikeLike