The news that the Government will forge ahead with plans to scrap the existing council structure in Cumbria and replace it with two authorities has been broadly welcomed by county leaders.
Robert Jenrick, Local Government Secretary, has announced that ministers have chosen a structure which will see the county split into East – the area covered by Eden, Barrow and South Lakeland councils – and West – the area covered by Allerdale, Copeland and Carlisle councils.
It follows four proposals being submitted to Whitehall by county leaders.
They were:
Four options for reorganisation
Following consultations, the authorities in Cumbria put forward four options for the Government to consider for local government reorganisation.
They were:
- Barrow, South Lakeland and Lancaster jointly submitted a proposal for two unitary councils: The Bay comprising the area covered by Barrow Borough, South Lakeland District and Lancaster City Councils and North Cumbria, comprising the area covered by Allerdale Borough, Carlisle City, Copeland Borough and Eden District Councils.
- Allerdale and Copeland jointly submitted a proposal for two unitary councils: West Cumbria comprising the area covered by Allerdale Borough, Carlisle City and Copeland Borough Councils and East Cumbria, comprising the area covered by Barrow Borough, Eden District and South Lakeland District Councils.
- Carlisle and Eden jointly submitted a proposal for two unitary councils: North Cumbria, comprising the area covered by Allerdale Borough, Carlisle City and Eden District Councils and South Cumbria comprising the area covered by Barrow Borough, Copeland Borough and South Lakeland District Councils.
- Cumbria County Council submitted a proposal for a single unitary council covering the county area of Cumbria – One Cumbria.
John Mallinson, leader of Carlisle City Council, said: “Two unitary councils is the optimum balance between local government being close to the communities it serves, but also having the resources and influence to drive positive change.
“We look forward to working with the government to discuss the next steps.
“We will also work with our council colleagues across Cumbria to ensure that the next stage of the local government reorganisation happens as smoothly as possible.
“We want to reassure residents, businesses and partner organisations that we will continue to deliver our excellent services and support in the interim.”
Virginia Taylor, leader of Eden District Council, said: “I look forward to collaborating with government, all council colleagues, and other partners to affect efficient transitions to the two new authorities.
“Together with all partners we will improve existing services while developing new ones – and retain and deliver local services locally.
“Speaking for Eden, we are mindful of the importance of businesses, parish and town councils, and residents, and assure them that services will continue without interruption.”
Mike Starkie, mayor of Copeland, said: “We welcome the decision to make significant changes to the way Cumbria is governed and we commit to working together to make this a real success for every member of our community.
“This change gives us the opportunity to improve service delivery in Cumbria, and services to our communities.
“Our bid included a proposal that the two unitaries will be a combined authority (made up of the leadership of each unitary) and led by a directly elected mayor for Cumbria. That objective remains.
“We want devolved powers and this is the route to the full range of powers and therefore opportunities to level up.
“We will work closely with our collective workforce, elected members, partners and suppliers to ensure the smooth transition to the new model.
“I want to reassure our communities, businesses and residents that we will continue to deliver excellent services and support them through the transition period.”
Mike Johnson, leader of Allerdale council said: “I’m really pleased to see that the government has been fully convinced by our arguments and felt our proposal – for an east/west split – was selected as the one to go forward with.
“I thought our proposal was a strong one and right for the future of Cumbria and clearly the government agrees with us.
“Our proposal means that we’ll have councils that can realise the benefits of being a unitary authority whilst also remaining close to the communities they serve. Our model also included proposals for a combined mayoral authority which I will be pushing to establish, as it would be key to unlocking government funding and investment into Cumbria.
There has been an awful lot of work put in to get us this far, and I’d like to thank everyone involved including all the staff, fellow councillors, partners, residents, our consultant team, and local business owners.
“During my time as leader I have built closer relations with colleagues at Copeland council who we worked with on this bid. So I’d also like to thank them.
I now look forward to working with colleagues in the other authorities and the government to ensure the transition goes as smoothly as possible without any major noticeable impact on services.
“The six districts and County Council have achieved some great things since 1974 when the last reorganisation happened.
“However, that structure no longer works as effectively as it should and we now have a real opportunity to improve the sustainability of local government in Cumbria, improve services for all of our communities, as well as hopefully benefit from the investment that a combined mayoral authority, if it comes about, can bring.
“This really is an exciting time for Allerdale’s communities and for Cumbria as a whole.”
Disappointed with reorganisation option
However, Ann Thomson, leader of Barrow Borough Council; Caroline Jackson, leader of Lancaster City Council and Jonathan Brook, leader of South Lakeland District Council, said they were surprised by the Government’s choice as they said it did demonstrate the same clarity their own bid did and did not gather the same amount of support.
However, they offered reassurance to residents and businesses that they would work closely with local authority colleagues across Cumbria to “ensure excellent local services and support continued to be delivered”.
Read their full statement here.
Read full details of the decision here.
Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership welcomes the decision. Read more here.
Listen to Mike Johnson’s thoughts about the reorganisation in this interview by Lakeland Radio.