Think-tank to consider Suffolk unitary council option

Plans to bring unitary powers to Suffolk were shelved eight years ago

Proposals for a unitary authority for Suffolk that could see the county governed by just one council could be put back on the table.

Suffolk County Council has asked think-tank ResPublica to look at "the merits of Suffolk making a bid to the government for a reformed system".

It said it wanted it to consider ways to "unlock more local control" and give "better delivery" of key services.

The government pulled the plug on a previous push in 2010.

Eric Pickles, who was the secretary of state for communities and local government at the time, said by halting the consultation on One Suffolk, councils in the county could concentrate on "delivering services to their communities" and "achieving genuine savings".

The new review would not only look at the option for a unitary authority but also retaining the current two-tier system - of county and borough councils - and devolution, Suffolk County Council said.

Colin Noble, the Conservative leader of Suffolk County Council, said it would be a "thorough and independent examination of the merits of structural reform".

"This is about working with the district and borough councils, the voluntary sector and health services to potentially come up with options to make savings in our back room and admin costs," he said.

"This way we can protect front line services and keep the council tax as low as we possibly can for the people of Suffolk."

He confirmed the process would cost in the region of £68,000.

Review has come as a surprise

By BBC Radio Suffolk political reporter Vikki Irwin

Suffolk is a two-tier system, with districts and boroughs that deal with bins and housing, and a countywide council that sorts out social care, children services and the roads. There's already been reform at district and borough level, with six out of the seven councils at varying stages of merger to become three larger districts.

So this new structural review has come as a surprise to some.

The leader of Suffolk County Council, Colin Noble, who's putting forward the review, says millions of pounds of savings could be achieved under a single unitary authority where one council delivers all services.

Conservative county councillor Christopher Hudson also agrees - and has said the financial failings at the two-tier Northamptonshire County Council have concerned and worried many of them.

District leaders have not welcomed the idea.

Waveney District Council's Mark Bee said Suffolk is too big to be a unitary authority - and too small to be broken up.

The findings of the review will be made available in the Autumn and any bid to government for reform could then follow.

However, David Ellesmere, the Labour leader of Ipswich Borough Council, described the move as "purely a county council initiative, that has been sprung on everybody".

"Whenever unitary councils are discussed it takes up vast amounts of time that we should be spending on the day job," he said.

"They see the district councils as a piggy bank to be raided."

ResPublica is run by former Conservative Party advisor Phillip Blond, who has supported devolution across England.

It will report on its findings in the autumn.

Suffolk County Council's elected members have been told the think-tank would provide "additional expertise, experience and objectivity".

Plans to devolve powers to Norfolk and Suffolk with a mayor were scrapped by the government in November 2016.