Devon County Council

A new single unitary for Devon will save £28.1 million in the first five years after fully paying back transition costs and investing in local communities.

Based on setting council tax at the lowest rate of all current District, Borough and City Councils, new financial figures show that all transition costs for establishing the new single unitary will be met in just 3 years and 8 months and bring year on year savings of £19 million.

By contrast, a rural Devon Unitary Council excluding Exeter, Exmouth and surrounding Parishes, would achieve savings of just £1.2 million by year five - £27.8 million less than could be achieved by a single Unitary Council.

The figures released today are from an affordability study compiled by Devon County Council, with input from Devon’s Districts, City and Borough Councils at the request of the Boundary Committee for England.

The payback period for a Rural Unitary Devon, (excluding Exeter, Exmouth and surrounding Parishes), after initial costs of transition would take four years and 11 months, which is narrowly within the Government’s five year payback period.

Ongoing savings for the Rural Devon option, year on year, after year five would be £10 million, which is a little more than half the savings achievable every year with a single Unitary Council.

The findings indicate that a move to a single Unitary Council would generate significant savings that far outweigh the initial transition costs.   

It would remove duplication, allow easier integration of related services – it would complement the current boundaries of Devon Primary Care Trust and the Police Basic Command Unit - and deliver savings in management, administration and democratic costs.  

It would also allow for efficiencies of scale, rationalisation of systems and assets, and maximise savings on commissioning and procurement.

The landmark report has been reviewed independently by Local Government Futures, who provide high quality financial and management consulting services to the public sector.  They conclude that:

Devon County Council has made reasonable efforts to identify and assess the costs and savings attributable to Local Government Reorganisation proposals, with any bias being to overstate costs estimates and understate savings.”

The County Council’s Leader, Cllr Brian Greenslade said:  

Even if we have understated the possible savings as the independent assessment suggests, £28.1 million in the fifth year of a new single Unitary Council are huge savings.

Our calculations indicate that the option to create two Unitary Councils would leave Devonians at least £27 million worse off.

The Government want to see payback after transition costs within five years.  We believe that with the efficiencies made through a single Unitary Council would mean that payback would be possible by three years and eight months – over a year sooner than the Government’s wishes.

It would enable the new Council to equalise Council Tax across Devon, reducing the amounts paid by households to the level of the lowest.”

The County Council has had to make a number of assumptions on which to base its calculations.  

Although the final decision will be the Boundary Committee’s, the County Council has estimated there being about 100 elected Unitary Councillors.  It would have a Leader elected by the Council, supported by an Executive of up to 10 members.

Restructuring would also lead to a reduction in staff.  Management would need to be rationalised and refocused across the new authority, and reductions in senior and middle management posts would be expected.    

For the purpose of the affordability study, the Council has needed to identify a structure that a new Unitary Council could adopt that incorporates all of the services currently provided by all Devon’s District Councils and the County Council.  A new Unitary Council would:

• Pull together expertise in Trading Standards, Environmental Health, Licensing and other related regulatory services
• Combine all of the existing waste collection management teams from each of the District, City and Borough Councils into a single unit
• Merge waste collection and disposal management teams
• Standardise existing structures within the different Housing Services
• Create a single management structure for Streetscene Management and streamlining contract administration
• Move to common systems and standards within ICT

Clearly these are all decisions that the new Unitary Council would need to take, and for the purposes of calculating affordability these are our assumptions,” said Cllr Greenslade.

The savings identified in today’s report strengthen the case for a single Unitary Council.  Many key agencies have already voiced their support in favour of a single Unitary Council, and have submitted their opinions to the Boundary Committee.

The Boundary Committee’s deadline for submissions is September 26, and I would ask all those who have not yet made their submissions to do so in the interests of all Devonians.”

Devon County Council’s Shadow Leader, Cllr John Hart, said:

These calculations for the Boundary Committee give an opportunity to revitalise local government, which has been going through a very difficult patch for a number of years.  

There have been major pressures put on local government spending by the Government, who have demanded year on year savings while at the same time reduced their proportion of the funding for services that people expect.  

If change comes about, the new authority will become more efficient and will be able to plough the savings into improved services for people in this county of Devon."