Public told they will get a say over county's future

A special meeting of Rutland County Council was held to discuss the plans

People in Rutland were told they will get a say in their county's future amid concern it will be swallowed up in local government reorganisation.

Under the English Devolution proposals set out by the government in December, councils the size of Rutland would have to merge with neighbouring authorities to create bigger councils that could work together to attract more power and funding.

The government favours new councils with a population of about 500,000 - Rutland is currently home to about 41,000.

During a special county council meeting on Tuesday, Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns said: "Rutland risks losing not only their council but their identity."

Council leader Gale Waller said the devolution plans should be "led by evidence"

Two recent public meetings held by the county's MP Alicia Kearns revealed both concern about the pace of proposed changes and some resignation over Rutland's fate.

The Conservative MP is now focusing attention on keeping at least the ceremonial status of the county.

She encouraged residents to attend the meeting and submit questions after councillors she spoke to told her they'd had very little contact about the issue.

During the meeting, an amendment was accepted which requires the council's leadership to conduct public engagement on local government reorganisation with the community.

This would be carried out before any proposals are submitted to government, with all councillors given a vote on the final proposals, with the government expecting outline proposals by March and full proposals by November.

Council leader Gale Waller said: "Devolution has the potential to be beneficial for our communities but only if done in the right way.

"To move forward with local government reorganisation, further work is needed to develop firm proposals that explore all options.

"We need to consider evidence around the critically important relationship between scale and physical geography.

As I have said previously, councils perform best when their boundaries reflect the way people live their lives."

'Public need a say'

Conservative MP Kearns told the meeting a public consultation is needed before a decision is made.

She added: "Our communities are clear and they want a say.

"We do what is right for Rutland and we will not willingly give up our independence and I ask you to listen to the people Rutland and we must be absolute to protect our ceremonial status.

"Rutland risks losing not only their council but their identity."

Councillor for Oakham North Ramsay Ross feels the devolution discussions will "reflect issues Rutland currently faces".

He added: "Despite the good work of the council, we have an economy that has shrunk, we have the lowest affordable housing as a county, an aging population and the highest council tax in England."

He said the proposals are "not perfect" but said he wants the public to have a say, does not want a reduction in staff numbers at the council, wants any new authority to have Rutland in its name and consider nearby Stamford to be included in the wider authority.

Analysis

By Tim Parker, BBC Leicester political reporter

This was the first time all of Rutland's councillors had got together to discuss their future since the government's plans for devolution emerged.

There's the feeling here, as at other councils, that the timetable for change is too short and that if they don't come to some sort of agreement with their neighbours they could end up having changed forced upon them.

Most councillors have clearly already talked to some of the residents about the changes that could be coming down the track and opinions have been mixed.

However, there was a determination during the meeting that all councillors should be able to debate any plans that are developed, before they get sent off to Whitehall.

And most councillors regardless of party want Rutland's ceremonial independence, at least, firmly kept in place.