Liberal Democrats Call White Paper a Missed Opportunity (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats <info@oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk>

Liberal Democrats Call White Paper a Missed Opportunity

December 21, 2006 10:33 AM

Cllr Zoé Patrick, Leader of the Opposition on Oxfordshire County Council, has called the White Paper on Local Government a 'missed opportunity'. During her speech at Cabinet on Tuesday she called on members to ask for an investigation into the idea of a unitary council covering the whole county, and in particular looking into how decisions could then be devolved down to towns and neighbourhoods within that.

Zoé pointed out that the preliminary costings produced for the Cabinet showed that a county-wide unitary council was the only model that would produce savings for the taxpayer, and that the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill published last week seemed to indicate that the Secretary of State could require unitary councils to be formed. She felt it only sensible to do some thinking about how this might work in practice.

She pointed out several failings with the Bill in particular "It does nothing to introduce fair local taxes based on ability to pay and moreover, it is a lost opportunity to bring in a fair voting system. There is no mention of scrapping Council Tax or Business Rates and it is also premature that this has been published before the Lyons report on local government."

Zoé continued to make her points, "On efficiency and economies of scale grounds there is some merit on giving a County unitary further thought."

During her speech she referred to the big question of how best to devolve down and thus compensate for a large County unitary with its hugely strategic role, functioning efficiently within its 'joined up' powers - whilst achieving localism within communities.

"I think most people would look immediately to their towns and parishes. The town hall has survived generations - this is where most people go for help within their communities," she added.

She suggested the Cabinet think this through very carefully and ask the Chief Executive to explore a County Unitary model based on the detail of how it would devolve to parishes and towns. Otherwise we could be caught unawares.

She ended by reminding Cabinet members that splitting the County into three separate unitaries would not be the solution. "A County unitary would have to include Oxford as its heart and take care of its hinterland. We would not wish to divorce ourselves from our City. I think Oxfordshire needs to have courage, and explore this exciting opportunity before it is too late, or worse, we shall be required to do it and we shall not be sufficiently prepared."