The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) has revealed that the proposal for a unitary council for Cumbria is one of only three bids in the country to receive top marks in all five of the essential criteria laid out in the Local Government White Paper.
When publishing the White Paper, the CLG said that any proposals for reforming local government needed to meet the following five essential criteria:
- Affordability
- Cross section of support
- Strategic leadership
- Neighbourhood engagement
- Service delivery
As part of the process in deciding which proposals would be given a so-called 'amber light' and proceed to the consultation phase, the CLG gave each bid one of three scores on each of the five essential criteria. The possible scores were:
H - a high likelihood that the proposal if implemented will achieve the outcomes specified by the criterion concerned R - a reasonable likelihood that the proposal if implemented will achieve the outcome specified by the criterion concerned L - little likelihood that the proposal if implemented will achieve the outcome specified by the criterion concerned
Cumbria County Council's proposal 'One Council, One Vision, One Voice' was marked as 'H' against all five essential criteria. The only other proposals out of the 26 submitted to achieve this were those from Durham County Council and North Yorkshire County Council.
The Secretary of State Ruth Kelly MP recognised the following points in Cumbria County Council's proposal when allowing it to proceed to the consultation phase:
- That the payback period for the proposal is estimated to be less than 5 years and that the revenue costs of transition should be financed from reserves and other savings.
- That the proposal has the support of some major local stakeholders.
- That the proposed streamlining and strengthening of LSP arrangements, and the cross-cutting corporate structure, are likely to contribute to strong strategic leadership.
That the proposed 20-30 community boards of local councillors and other local delivery partners; and 4 area committees to champion devolved decision-making and service management issues across communities, should deliver strong neighbourhood engagement.
- That the proposal outlines opportunities for improvement in service delivery. For example, through investment in frontline services funded from annual efficiency savings.
ENDS
Media enquiries to Gareth Cosslett, News Manager on 01228 606332
Notes
Attached is the letter to Cumbria County Council from Ruth Kelly MP, plus a round-up on how each proposal scored. They can also be viewed at the Department for Communities and Local Government's website at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1509022