Councils to be merged in major overhaul of local powers | Global News Avenue

District councils could be scrapped and more elected mayors introduced across England under new plans for a major redesign of local government.

Ministers will publish a document on Monday outlining plans to merge areas that currently have two tiers of local authorities – smaller district councils and larger county councils – to streamline services.

Elected metro mayors will also be given new planning powers to speed up the delivery of new homes and infrastructure.

But the body representing district councils warned the plans could cause “chaos” and argued “mega-councils” could undermine local decision-making.

The current arrangements for local government in England are complex and have changed significantly in recent years.

In some places, responsibility for local services is shared between county councils, which manage areas such as social care and education, and district councils, which are responsible for smaller areas and are responsible for services such as waste collection.

Some areas, particularly larger towns and some cities, have a “single” authority responsible for both matters, while areas around major cities are increasingly covered by multi-council “joint” authorities who have a strong role in transport policy. Greater powers in areas such as , planning and housing.

The Conservatives created 11 such regions with an elected “metro” mayor and set a target that every region in England that wanted greater powers in some form would have one by 2030 Get a devolution agreement.

Despite this, around half of England’s population live in areas not covered by the devolution deal.

The Labor government has pledged ahead of the election to expand the use of local powers as a key part of its wider aims to grow the economy and build more homes.

A document due to be published on Monday is expected to set out ambitions for a unitary council across England, with regions that currently have two tiers of councils asked to draft merger proposals.

Streamlining local government will be seen as a way to create stronger local mayors, with Labor seeing it as a means of clearing infrastructure and attracting more investment.

The elected mayor would then oversee areas represented by two or more councils and be given more powers over matters such as planning decisions and public transport.

Dozens of district councils could be abolished as a result – prompting some to claim it would deny people the power to make truly local decisions.

This would require a series of deals to be followed nationally in North Yorkshire, which now has unified powers after the establishment of eight councils. Merged together last year.

It would mark a reshuffle that goes beyond what Labor promised in its election manifesto and is arguably the biggest reorganization of local government since the 1970s.

The overall timetable and route to achieving this have yet to be set, and it is unclear whether the government will use legal powers to force councils to join forces or hope to encourage them to do so through funding arrangements.

Labor believes the reforms will make local government simpler and save money by making service delivery more efficient.

In a speech on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Reyna vowed to make devolution “the government’s default position” and give parliament the powers it needs to “drive growth and improve living standards”.

But previous attempts to reorganize local government have sparked debates over geographical boundaries and where authority lies.

The plans have been opposed by the District Councils Network (DCN), an umbrella group for such councils, which said there was “little evidence” that taxpayers’ money would be saved from past restructures.

Hannah Dalton, the network’s vice-president, said the “establishment of large committees” could prove “the opposite of devolution”.

She also warned that the reorganization could trigger “a period of disruption that will prevent councils from focusing on driving new homes, jobs and local services that reduce pressure on the NHS”.

A Tory spokesman said Rayner’s announcement was part of a plan to “strip power from parliament” and impose a reorganization from Westminster “without local consent”.

He said the party recognized the need to build more homes but said they had to be “in the right places”.

“This new announcement will do nothing to solve the problem and instead opens another front for Labour’s attack on the countryside.”

However, the plans were welcomed by the County Councils Network (CCN), which said its members “now recognize the need to embrace the benefits of devolution” in the face of “significant financial challenges”.

Tim Oliver, chairman of the committee, said it was clear that many county areas needed to be restructured to “free up” more generous funding from central government and create “more financially sustainable” councils.

Councilor Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), said “genuine devolution of power and resources can make a huge difference in promoting inclusive economic growth, creating jobs and improving public services”.

She said her members were “open to change” but “remains clear that local government reorganization should be a council and local decision”.

Monday’s document is also expected to confirm plans for greater co-operation between councils on the planning of transport and infrastructure projects.

Upper level councils, including unitary authorities and current county councils, will be asked to develop a streamlined version of the “spatial development” strategy for planning projects in large cities.

Since returning to office in July, Labor has announced four devolution deals: Greater Lincolnshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Devon and Torbay and Lancashire.

Combined governments in the north of England, including combined county governments in more rural areas, were more progressive than in the south.

Interest in devolution deals has waned in large areas of the South West and East Anglia, where minimum population requirements also require the establishment of larger joint councils.

Speaking on Sunday, Labor Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham welcomed the plans for his region but said they would go a long way in giving elected mayors more control over skills policy. “not enough”.

He added that it was an area driven by local demand and that a “centralized view” of the education sector could “hinder” economic growth.