Labour MP criticises local government shake-up plan

Gedling MP Michael Payne spoke in the House of Commons on Monday

One of Nottinghamshire's Labour MPs has openly criticised the government's drive to overhaul local councils.

Ministers want to scrap district, borough and county councils and create new, larger "unitary" authorities, arguing that the current system is overly complicated.

Michael Payne, who represents Gedling, said his constituents had told him "loud and clear" they did not want a change.

Some Labour MPs in the East Midlands differ on where the new boundaries should be drawn, but Payne has been first to publicly question the logic of the reorganisation.

He made the comments in a House of Commons debate on the importance of local government to the East Midlands economy.

He said: "Do we really want local authority staff to be focused on a multi-year reorganisation process or do we want them to be getting on with the job and growing their local economies?"

'Certainty is essential'

Responding for the government, Alex Norris, the communities minister and Nottingham North MP, argued it was time to simplify things.

"I am thinking of parts of my constituency that have five tiers of government," he said.

"They have an elected mayor, they have me in this place, they have a county council, they have a borough council and they have a town council."

One early proposal, put forward by Labour-run Nottingham City Council, is to form a new council along with two of the three surrounding boroughs: Gedling, Rushcliffe and Broxtowe.

Payne made no reference to the idea of expanding the city's political boundaries to include his own area but suggested the uncertainty could be harmful.

He added: "The government have rightly pointed out that certainty is essential to economic growth, so may I be so bold as to suggest that certainty in local government - whether it is a planner knowing that they have a job in the future or a local authority knowing that it will exist in two years' time - is also essential?"

Norris insisted people's views would be taken into account.

"In the next few months to November, when we expect proposals to be submitted, we have an opportunity to have those conversations," he said.