“We are here to represent our residents and I want to give our residents the best chance of a future unitary model that they could support”. That is the view of the Leader of Rochford District Council following this week’s meeting of Full Council, where councillors agreed to a series of in-principle recommendations. One of which is to investigate an option not currently on the table - a four unitary council model in Greater Essex, where Rochford would form a new unitary council with Maldon, Chelmsford and Brentwood to create a new Mid Essex unitary council.
The debate on Local Government Reorganisation follows the Government’s Devolution White Paper in which they set out to replace the current ‘two-tier’ system of local government with ‘single tier’ unitary authorities and Greater Essex’s inclusion in the Government’s Priority Programme for Devolution. The Government invited authorities to produce plans for how all-purpose unitary councils could improve the delivery of essential public services across the county. The final plans are required to be submitted to the Government in September.
Currently, there are two formal business cases being worked on in Essex which propose:
- Five unitary councils where Rochford could join Southend and Castle Point
- Three unitary councils where Rochford could join Southend, Castle Point, Basildon and Thurrock.
At Full Council this week (Tuesday 22 July), Rochford District Council agreed its position in principle at this time and its direction and focus ahead of the Government’s September deadline, including:
- Not to support the three unitary authority model that could see Rochford join Southend, Castle Point, Basildon and Thurrock
- Not to support the five unitary authority model that could see Rochford join Castle Point and Southend
- That the Council would support in principle a three unitary authority proposal that would see Rochford join Maldon, Chelmsford, Brentwood, Epping Forest and Harlow
- That Rochford District Council investigates an option for a four unitary proposal where Rochford could join Maldon, Chelmsford and Brentwood
- That the Council carries out a survey with Rochford District residents to get their views on which option they prefer on which areas the district could join with before the Council decides on its final preference to support.
The Government have not set a limit on how many business cases can be submitted by Essex councils in September.
Councillor Danielle Belton, Leader of Rochford District Council, said: “Local Government Reorganisation decided in haste, is not what we wanted but it is our responsibility to look at all the possible options available for the Rochford District within the limited time we have been given.
“All of the decisions we agreed this week are only in principle. Our final decision does not need to be made until September, so we are leaving our final options open until we have some feedback from our residents on what configurations they would prefer – which districts and boroughs in greater Essex they feel more aligned with.
“That is all that is within our gift, as we all know, the final decision is being made by the government.”