Boundary Commission
Do you want East Devon run by a council that's HALF A BILLION POUNDS IN DEBT?
THEY CLAIM IT WOULD BE MORE EFFICIENT - DOES IT SOUND MORE EFFICIENT TO YOU?
By Councillor Sara Randall Johnson, Leader of EDDC
EAST DEVON District Council strongly opposes today's recommendation by the Boundary Committee that local government in Devon should be managed by one debt-ridden council delivering services and managing local government processes across the county. This at a time when the Credit Crunch means we need sound financial management, especially in the public sector.
I would urge the people of East Devon to register their protest at every available opportunity, starting with the Boundary Committee's website or through the post.
With Plymouth and Torbay already responsible for all council services in their respective areas, the Boundary Committee is suggesting that the best solution would be for the rest of Devon to be run by one council - broadly equivalent to Devon County Council in its present form.
The new authority would take on responsibility for all district council functions - for example waste collection, street cleaning, council housing, planning and building control, in addition to the functions already handled by Devon County Council.
EDDC is debt-free
In putting forward its proposal, the Boundary Committee suggests that a single unitary county would be MORE EFFICIENT. However, their solution would mean East Devon (and the other district council areas in Devon) being run by an authority that is currently over HALF A BILLION POUNDS IN DEBT*. That's the equivalent of nearly £2,000 owed for every household in Devon. In fact, Devon's debt has risen steeply from £365 million in 2003 to £614 million now - a staggering £250 million increase in five years - averaging £50 million a year! Does that sound efficient to you?
By comparison, EDDC has no debt and has a sizeable sum of money in the bank to keep it solvent. The money that EDDC has set aside for contingencies and to help keep YOUR council tax bill down, would be swallowed up overnight in the massive debts owed by the new council. It would be dwarfed by Devon's overdraft and EDDC's carefully gathered savings would disappear paying the new Devon council's interest charges.
Too big, too remote
Council Tax payers in Devon are entitled to the best services their money can buy. But they also want to be served by a local authority with a sound financial record and a reputation for keeping council tax down.
We can only wonder whether council tax payers in East Devon - and across the rest of the county - really want a council whose efficiency can be counted in massive debts to be responsible for the totality of service provision and management of local government finances in Devon.
In selecting the single Devon unitary option, the Boundary Committee has flown in the face of submissions from a number of local councils, including EDDC, which contended that the single unitary option would mean the majority of Devon being run by one monolithic, remote council too big to be efficient and too distant to be accountable to the widely dispersed urban and rural communities it serves.
* Devon County Council's annual statement of accounts records that their long term outstanding debt at 31 March 2008 was £614 million - over half a billion pounds.
Ends
NOTES FOR EDITORS
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The Boundary Committee wants to hear from local people as to whether they support or oppose the proposed changes. Once this consultation is complete, the Committee will analyse the results before making a final recommendation to Hazel Blears, Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), in December.
Early in 2009, Ms Blears will either make a decision to accept the recommendation, ask for a further review, or reject it in favour of preserving things the way they are now.
If she accepts the recommendation, the new arrangements should start coming into effect in 2010.
HOW CAN RESIDENTS HAVE A SAY?
It's really important that local people make known their views on the proposals. Residents can go online and add their comments at:
http://www.boundarycommittee.org.uk/our-work/devonstrrev.cfm
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