County leaders are demanding answers from the Government on its stalled plans for local government reorganisation to allow funds to be freed up for frontline services.
Last month, national plans including proposals to replace the two-tier local government structure in Devon with four unitary authorities from April 2028 were suspended by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) following the threat of legal action from councils nationwide.
Since then, the County Council has been seeking clarity and also applied for a judicial review of the Devon proposals which will be triggered if they are resubmitted in their original form.
Approximately £2.1 million has been spent by the County Council in connection with the reorganisation and full implementation could cost an estimated £100 million.
County Council Leader Julian Brazil says he would prefer to work constructively with Whitehall to drive service improvement and growth instead of taking the matter to court.
Councillor Julian Brazil added:
“We welcome the fact that the Government has chosen to accelerate devolution and look again at Local Government Reorganisation. The government’s proposals for Devon would have introduced a model which was unworkable, unpopular, and threatened to derail enormous progress we’ve made in supporting young people.
“Implementation of these proposals would have cost around £100m which instead should be invested in frontline services. We’ve already been forced to spend nearly £2 million on responding to the original proposals.
“Local government delivers many of the day-to-day services that our residents rely on, especially the most vulnerable. Creating areas on maps and then trying to force services to fit those geographies is absolutely the wrong approach.
“I want us to work with Government and district councils, health bodies and the private sector to invest our energy and funds into rewiring Devon. If we can get these basics right first, then economic growth will follow. It doesn’t work the other way round.”
