County council wants referendum on city expansion

Reform UK council leader Dan Harrison said no parts of the county should be forced to join an enlarged city

Leicestershire County Council has called for a referendum to be held if the government proposes to expand Leicester's political boundaries.

Leicester's Labour mayor Sir Peter Soulsby wants the city to grow into surrounding suburbs, towns and villages as part of a major shake-up of council boundaries ordered by ministers.

However, at a council meeting on Wednesday, county councillors voted to support a motion opposing the city expanding into any part of neighbouring Leicestershire.

They also requested the government offer people in the county a referendum on the issue should it "be minded to implement an expansion" of the city boundary.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has been contacted for comment.

The pink-shaded area of the map shows the extent of the proposed new city boundary

The Reform UK-led county council said it wanted Leicestershire to be run by a single unitary authority, including Rutland, leaving Leicester within its existing footprint.

Council leader Dan Harrison said the proposal would keep "historic borders and local identity intact".

"There would be no breaking up of communities, no forced transfer of land to Leicester city," he said.

Harrison stressed that he wanted a referendum to be held, and paid for by, the government rather than the county council.

He did not say what specific question the referendum should pose.

The county council proposes a single authority around Leicester's existing border

The government has said it wants to simplify council structures by removing the existing two-tier set up where areas are covered by both a county and district authorities.

It wants larger authorities in the future serving populations of about 500,000 people.

Opposition Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green councillors also backed the motion opposing city expansion as well as the call for a referendum.

However, the Liberal Democrat and Labour groups said they did not support the proposal for one large council covering the whole county in the future.

Conservative group leader Deborah Taylor said: "My residents have been very clear with me. They do not want to be taken in by the city and I will stand up for them."

"My group would not support a referendum if the cost is down to local tax-payers," she added. "The government must pay for a referendum."

County council Liberal Democrat group leader Michael Mullaney said he believed having one authority for the whole of Leicestershire opened the door to city expansion.

"By creating one authority of 750,000 [people] in Leicestershire and one of about 350,000 in Leicester city it creates a situation where there are two authorities very unbalanced in numbers.

"This then strengthens the argument for the city to expand to create a Leicester city of similar numbers to the county."

Labour group leader Jewel Miah said he feared the county council proposal would "fall at the first hurdle" because the Leicestershire unitary authority would be far larger than the city one.

'Unlocking devolution'

Soulsby has previously claimed both Harrison and Taylor had privately accepted the case for expanding the city boundary.

He said: "Our proposal would achieve balanced population levels for the city and surrounding county areas.

"Modelling shows that this makes the best financial sense and is in the long-term interests of everyone.

"Reorganising the 10 existing local councils into two unitary authorities of comparable size would deliver more efficient and cost-effective council services across the whole area with more streamlined decision-making.

"An expanded city will also be key to boosting housing and local economic growth and unlocking devolution."

The district and borough council say two new authorities should surround the city

Whatever the outcome of the process, the county's district councils are set to be abolished.

They, together with Rutland County Council, said they would be proposing three unitary councils across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland when they submit their plans to ministers at the end of November.

Their preferred option is called North, City, South.

A North Leicestershire and Rutland council would serve the area currently covered by Charnwood borough, North West Leicestershire district, Melton borough and Rutland County Council.

A separate South Leicestershire council would cover the areas of Blaby district, Harborough district, Hinckley and Bosworth borough and Oadby and Wigston borough councils.

The district leaders said their plan would create three equally balanced councils, each serving about 400,000 people, delivering economic growth, and saving £44m in efficiencies.