Following the government's announcement that the proposal for a unitary council for the whole of Cumbria has not been accepted, leading county councillors today pledged to make the existing two-tier system more responsive to local needs, offer better value for money and devolve more power into communities.
The unitary bidding process has exposed the weaknesses in local government and highlighted the huge agenda facing Cumbria. New, radical proposals have been put forward to make local government more responsive and the county council will still do all it can to drive forward improvement. For example, five pilot community boards are now up and running in Barrow, North Allerdale, Grange & Cartmel, Keswick and North East Copeland.
Cumbria County Council's Leader Tim Stoddard said:
"Change still needs to happen in the way councils work and the county council will lead the way in making that change happen. All councils are preparing to tighten their belts in anticipation of a tough settlement in the next Comprehensive Spending Review. The only way we can achieve these efficiencies is to work more closely with our partners including the district councils and, where possible, join up our resources to avoid duplication. We're obviously disappointed that our proposal has not been accepted and we see it as a golden opportunity missed. We will be looking closely at the reasons why the Department for Communities and Local Government has not accepted our bid."
Joan Stocker, Deputy Leader of the Council and Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said:
"The unitary debate has already generated new ways of working and thinking that now need to be built on. This is a time to look forward not back. The status quo is not an option and there will still be major changes in the way all councils in Cumbria work and deliver a shared services agenda. We proposed the radical 'big fix' option and make no apologies for doing that as we genuinely believed it was the best way forward. But we now need to work on delivering the same result - cutting costs and bringing the public sector closer to communities - via different means. This will be much slower and harder to achieve when we have all to free up resources to invest in community working and agree how to do it. From bitter experience I know that getting agreement on how to move forward to give everyone better community engagement will be difficult ."
Stewart Young, Leader of the Labour Group, said:
"The reasons why this whole exercise was necessary haven't gone away - councils still need to consider the same tough criteria the government is laying down on finance, efficiency and effectiveness. It is essential that we now work together with our partners in the county to meet these challenges. The people of Cumbria expect and deserve nothing less."
Jim Buchanan, Leader of the Conservative Group, said:
"It is now clear that the two-tier system of local government, plus the parish and town councils, is here to stay in Cumbria. The narrow window of opportunity for structural change is now firmly closed and we are committed to working with all our key partners across the public sector to get the best possible outcomes from within the system. But today's announcement does not mean that things stay the same, it's not 'business as usual'. We have learned a lot from this process, and have learned that in many ways councils are failing to connect with people. A lot of work needs to be done to improve the system and create new opportunities."
ENDS
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