Business case revealed for major council shake-up

Councillor Joanne Monk, the Reform UK county council leader, and fellow cabinet member David Taylor are backing the plan

A business case for replacing all seven main councils in Worcestershire with a single authority has been revealed - with bosses calling it a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity.

Worcestershire is one of the first areas taking part in the government's plans for local government reorganisation - with a final submission due to be made to ministers at the end of November.

The county council's draft business case reveals how £8.5 million could be spent on redundancy payments, with "duplicated" job roles set to be deleted.

The number of councillors across Worcestershire would also be cut dramatically, from 257 down to 114 - a 55 per cent reduction.

Worcestershire County Council has been working on the proposals for a single unitary authority for several months, and has produced a 158-page plan which spells out why it should be supported.

Under the One Worcestershire proposal, the county council and all six district authorities - Worcester, Malvern, Wychavon, Redditch, Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest - would be dissolved by 2028/29 to be replaced by a single unitary council.

Five of Worcestershire's six district councils are set to submit a rival bid for a north/south split by the 28 November deadline, with only Wyre Forest backing the single authority.

Reform UK county councillor David Taylor, cabinet member for One Worcestershire, said: "The options clearly show a 'One Worcestershire' model would be the best thing for residents - financially it would save anything from £20 million a year up to £30 million a year."

Millions to set up - but 'rapid' return promised

The business case reveals how it would cost £59 million in implementation costs, with the council planning to use reserves and ask the government for financial support to go unitary.

That includes £4.5m on designing the new council, as well as a huge PR and rebranding exercise.

The document said "every effort" would be made to avoid redundancies if the seven authorities came together, but added some job cuts were "inevitable" as duplicate roles were deleted.

More than £200,000 would be saved in election costs by having fewer authorities, and a unitary authority would deliver a "rapid return" on the upfront investment by 2031, it added.

The document also appears to back up the prospect of significant hikes in council tax for some, one month after slides were first leaked to the BBC.

It suggests that harmonising council tax across the county "may result in some higher-than-normal increases" - with one proposal being an annual Band D rate of £2,174.

The sum would add more than £430 to people's annual bills - compared to 2025 - in areas such as Evesham and Droitwich, and £300 in Kidderminster.

The lowest it could be would be £2,011 at Band D, depending on which scenario councillors end up backing.

Taylor said: "This is the hand we've been given by the Labour Government.

"We will have to do the best we can for the 620,000 residents that we've got."

Dan Boatright-Greene, leader of the county's Liberal Democrat group, said: "The document is absolutely horrendous.

"It's desperate and confused - and the long and short of it is, we'll all end up paying more for it."

Green group leader Matt Jenkins said: "I would prefer a north/south split to having just one Worcestershire council, but to some extent what we want is irrelevant.

"It will be central government who make the decision."