Central Bedfordshire ... is this the way to go? (12/01/07)

The two councils believe that there are indications that the move would have the support of the wider community, would preserve local services, keep local council taxes low and keep decision-making local.

The move follows declarations by Bedfordshire County Council and Bedford Borough Council that they will recommend to the Secretary of State that unitary local government in Bedfordshire is the best approach.  A Central Bedfordshire Council is consistent with Bedford Borough’s case for a Unitary Bedford.

Both Councils have strong performance records as judged by the Audit Commission and other assessments. There is a powerful argument that a single unitary Central Bedfordshire Council covering Mid and South Beds and responsible for all services would save money, create a more efficient organisation and remove confusion over who is responsible for providing services.

South Bedfordshire District Council’s Executive earlier this week (Tuesday 9 January) asked officers to work together with their Mid Beds colleagues to more fully assess this proposal. Mid Beds District Council will consider it at an extraordinary Executive on Tuesday 16 January.

The Central Bedfordshire proposal echoes the recommendation of the independent Local Government Commission in the mid 1990’s for a unitary Luton, a unitary Bedford and the joining of Mid and South Beds under the name Central Bedfordshire. Independent consultation carried out by the Local Government Commission at the time found 55 per cent of local people overwhelmingly preferred this option compared to only 17 per cent supporting a unitary County Council.

Mid and South Beds Councils already work closely together on a number of services including parking, procurement and IT. We also host our websites together and we are setting up Citizone Points of Presence across our areas providing face-to-face services to our communities.

Norman Costin, Leader of South Bedfordshire District Council said: “We believe it is our duty to all our residents, in light of our successful record of providing public services and our reputation for sound leadership, to seek the best possible option for our communities.  There are powerful reasons to move towards a unitary authority and we are looking at these closely to enable a final decision to be made.”

“Both councils have a mix of urban and rural populations and share challenges such as ensuring sustainable development, increasing affordable housing and providing activities for our diverse communities.  We feel we can bring our successful local approach to tackling issues like street lighting and public transport.”

Tricia Turner, Leader of Mid Beds District Council added: “Our actions are focussed on achieving the best ‘Value for Money’ outcome for our communities and we hope that everyone in our area will join the debate to make sure that we achieve the best result possible.

“We feel that big is not best, that local services provided by local councils independently recognised as sound managers and held to account locally is the best way forward. There will be savings, inefficient management layers will be removed and we will ensure local council tax is spent on local services.”

Following the Executive meetings further Council meetings will be held at both councils by 24 January to make a final decision. Submissions must be made to the Government by 25 January.

NOTE: In the autumn the Local Government White Paper gave the opportunity to all councils to propose unitary government or improved two-tier working in their areas. Since then Mid and South Bedfordshire District Councils have held a number of discussions to explore whether it would be better to continue working within the “two-tier” arrangements and collectively seek to make these work better.  Regrettably neither the County Council nor Bedford Borough Council believes this to be a workable option.