Plans revealed for future of local government

All district councils and the county council in Devon are due to be scrapped in the coming years

A massive reorganisation of local government in Devon could see the county looking broadly as it does now but with all district councils abolished.

The government is replacing all county councils and district councils with unitary authorities in the biggest overhaul of local government for 50 years and has asked local authorities to come up with plans for how areas should be carved up.

Devon County Council unveiled its plan to create a new local authority covering roughly the same area as is now covered by the county council and the eight district councils while retaining Plymouth and Torbay councils.

Competing proposals have been put forward with a final decision to be made by the government.

Paul Arnott, deputy leader of Devon County Council, wants to see stronger accountability and better use of money

The plan has been christened New Devon by the county council but others have named it 9-1-1 - referring to the collection of district and county councils, Plymouth and Torbay.

Paul Arnott, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader of Devon County Council and leader of East Devon District Council, said it would "provide stronger local accountability" and "smarter use of public money".

Arnott said the new council would work alongside the existing Plymouth and Torbay unitary authorities.

With district councils scrapped the new unitary authority would also create Neighbourhood Area Committees which would be "decision-making bodies comprising of representatives from a range of organisations including town and parish councils, police, and local health services".

Exeter City Council created this map to show how it wants to expand into surrounding areas

Julian Brazil, Liberal Democrat leader of Devon County Council, described the plans as the "least worst" option which would avoid "disastrous disruption to existing key services such as adult social care and children's services".

He said: "The government is intent on forcing through changes which will cost many millions of pounds to implement and provides a great deal of uncertainty for residents and staff who provide critical services."

The government has said it wants to create "clearer, more sustainable local government structures that unlock crucial efficiency savings and ensure more resources are directed to the frontline".

Alongside the local government reorganisation the government is also introducing directly elected regional mayors across the country.

Plymouth, Torbay and Devon County have all said they are working together on a joint mayoral authority for the county and would like Cornwall to join them in a strategic authority but those plans have been rebuffed by councillors in Cornwall.

When councils were asked to submit interim plans in March there were five different plans submitted by Exeter City Council, all of the other seven district councils, Devon County Council, Plymouth and Torbay.

The entire county, including Plymouth and Torbay, has a population of about 1.2 million.

The Devon County Council plans are very different to the plans put forward by Phil Bialyk, Labour leader of Exeter City Council.

He wants to expand into surrounding areas and take control of parts of East Devon, Teignbridge and Mid Devon - thereby expanding the population size from about 135,000 to about 255,000.

In June the government said its position was that a "population size of 500,000 or more is a guiding principle, not a strict target".

Plymouth City Council, led by Labour's Tudor Evans, also wants to expand into the South Hams - hoping to increase its population from about 265,000 to 300,000.

Torbay Council, with Conservative Dave Thomas at the helm, is considering three options - to remain as it is, to expand into parts of South Hams and Teignbridge, or to cover all of South Hams, West Devon and Teignbridge.

Each area as a whole will have to submit one plan by the end of November - which might contain different proposals put forward by individual councils.

The government hopes to be in a position whereby elections for the new unitary authorities in Devon are held in May 2027 with the new authority "going live" on 1 April 2028.