Pickles says imposed unitary status "a complete Horlicks"
It was DCLG questions in the House of Commons yesterday and Eric Pickles could hardly have been clearer in rejecting Lord Heseltine's call to impose unitary status on local government:
Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab): Whether he plans to implement the proposals by Lord Heseltine for unitary local government.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles): No.
Mr Bradshaw: I have to tell the Secretary of State that my constituents in Exeter will be very disappointed by his reply, not least because one of his first acts in government was to take away their council’s hard-won unitary status. Given that both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have described Lord Heseltine’s report as excellent, why does he have such a problem with this particular part of it?
Mr Pickles: It is indeed an excellent report, but I remind the right hon. Gentleman that the former permanent secretary to the Department, as its accounting officer, washed his hands of the unitary
restructuring in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk, demanding that Labour Ministers direct him to continue. He warned that it would “impact adversely on the financial position of the public sector”.
He said:
“the evidence for such gains is mixed and representations that you have received provide no evidence to quantify such benefits”.
He also said:
“There is every likelihood of such judicial review proceedings being commenced.”
The system was a complete Horlicks, and that is why we abolished it.
Mr James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con): My right hon. Friend is right: the diversity of local government in England is very important, and there is no “one size fits all” solution. Does he accept, however, that it was the last Conservative Government who introduced unitary authorities in the first place, and that Wiltshire has been praised by my noble Friend Lord Heseltine for getting rid of five dual-tier district authorities and replacing them with one, thereby saving an enormous amount of money, keeping the council tax frozen, and getting rid of large layers of bureaucracy in the process?
Mr Pickles: I am glad to hear that my hon. Friend is at one with his local council. Of course I am not opposed to unitary authorities; what I am opposed to is the imposition on local authorities, from the centre, of costly reorganisations I am urging authorities, particularly small district authorities, to start to work together, to merge not just back-office but front-office functions, and to provide a much better deal for their people.
John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab): What is the Secretary of State’s problem? Fewer politicians, fewer chief executives, fewer local government press officers—why does he not just get on with it, and actually make some savings that the public will enjoy?
Mr Pickles: I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman is not at one with his local council. I understand his frustration, but all the improvements that he wants—fewer press officers, fewer officials, lower costs—can be achieved by sensible local authorities that merge their front-office and back-office functions, and I for one would very much welcome that.
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