Councils row as reorganisation deadline looms

The future of local democracy in Nottinghamshire remains uncertain with only eight weeks before councils must submit reorganisation plans to the government.

Nottinghamshire's council leaders remain in a dispute over plans for local government reorganisation, eight weeks before a national deadline.

On Monday, seven of the county's authorities released a jointly-commissioned report which showed 30% of 11,000 respondents supported plans for reorganisation.

However, Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council and Conservative-led Rushcliffe Borough Council dismissed the report, saying it did not show a "full analysis".

During a press conference on Thursday, senior Labour councillors in Nottinghamshire accused county and Rushcliffe leaders of pushing back on the report because they did not like the results, which both denied.

Councils in England must submit final proposals to the government on 28 November.

All councils in Nottinghamshire ran a survey for six weeks, asking the public to share their views on local government reorganisation.

Option one – known as 1b – involves Nottingham city, Broxtowe and Gedling merging to become one unitary authority. Bassetlaw, Mansfield, Ashfield, Rushcliffe, and Newark and Sherwood would combine to establish a second.

Option two – known as 1e – involves Nottingham city joining with Broxtowe and Rushcliffe, with the other districts and boroughs combining to create a separate authority.

Option three involves keeping the current boundary between the city and the county in place, but eliminating the two-tiered system in the latter.

Neil Clark, leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council, thinks local government reorganisation has been "rushed"

Reform county leader Mick Barton said he was "very disappointed" only 1% of residents responded to the survey.

Barton said: "I want to do the best for our residents and that's what I will keep doing."

He added arguments around reorganising local government "shouldn't be political".

"I believe in some ways it has been, but it shouldn't be, and I won't be political about it," he said.

Rushcliffe's leader, Neil Clark, said he believed the government should "pause" the process altogether so further discussions could take place.

"It has been too rushed, and that's how we've ended up in this situation," he said.

'We can't ignore reponses'

Bassetlaw District Council, Broxtowe Borough Council, Gedling Borough Council, Mansfield District Council, Newark and Sherwood District Council, and Nottingham City Council released a statement disputing the county and Rushcliffe's dismissal of the report.

Julie Leigh, leader of Labour-run Bassetlaw District Council, said all nine councils had been working collectively "until now".

In a press conference on Thursday, she said: "It's all very well saying we don't really like the results of this so we're going to commission a new one [report], but I don't think it's appropriate to ignore the voices of those people who made the time to respond.

"I think it's very important to listen to those people."