Summary of the case for three unitary councils
Forest Heath, St Edmundsbury and Waveney councils are asking the Boundary Committee for England to consider recommending unitary councils for East Suffolk, West Suffolk and North Haven (Ipswich and Felixstowe area) because 'one size will not fit all'.
We agree with the Boundary Committee that:
- unitary councils would improve accountability and services (but only if they are not too large and remote);
- a ‘North Haven’ unitary council makes sense for Ipswich and Felixstowe, with a separate focus for the rest of Suffolk.
But we also believe that:
- Lowestoft should stay in Suffolk, at the strategic heart of an East Suffolk council;
- a single giant unitary council for Suffolk would be too large and remote with any claimed benefits outweighed by the loss of local accountability;
- East Suffolk, West Suffolk and North Haven have distinctly different priorities and needs which one council would struggle to balance;
- all three councils will be of sufficient size to offer strategic leadership, economy and value for money, but will be much closer to, and empower, local people;
- full consultation needs to be carried out with parishes around the boundaries – lines on maps at this stage are simply indications of possible boundaries.
The East and West are very different places, with different futures because:
- landscapes, heritage, age profiles, housing, growth, patterns of deprivation, learning and skills needs, densities and patterns of settlement are all different;
- economically they look in different sub-regional directions: West Suffolk to Cambridge; East Suffolk to Ipswich, the Haven Gateway and Norwich;
- both areas demand different and innovative approaches to children and young people, skills, adult care, environmental management, growth, transport, and the way in which services are actually delivered in local communities;
Local – but not parochial – because:
- councillors will be able to keep in touch with, and be held to account by, people in smaller, more manageable wards compared to a single giant, remote council;
- people will get the attention of a council that understands them better;
- locally elected parish and town councils will have more influence;
- East and West will have different methods, but both will work closely with their local communities so they can do what local people tell them is most important;
- councils with detailed knowledge of their unique areas will be able to target those at regional, national and European levels who can help tackle major issues.
We can afford three councils because:
- savings of around £30 million will be each year (after set-up costs are paid);
- over five years the cost of setting up three councils instead of one vary by just 0.46% of the total £1 billion Suffolk budget;
- savings will meet the Government's affordability test;
- the savings will provide funds for investment in innovative service delivery and ways to bring local people into the heart of decision-making.