The Liberal Democrat group on the County Council has today put forward proposals with potentially far-reaching consequences for the future of local government in Warwickshire. They have called for an extraordinary meeting of the Council, to be held on the 23rd February.
The first Lib Dem motion calls for the County Council to re-visit the question of joining the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which it declined to do last September. The Lib Dems believe that joining the WCMA as a constituent member in the second phase, potentially towards the end of 2016, is now the best option facing the County Council, and that work should start immediately to define the list of priorities to be taken into a future negotiation process.
Cllr John Whitehouse (Lib Dem, Kenilworth Abbey), who chairs the all-party Devolution Working Group at the County Council, says:
“Lib Dems voted not to join the first phase of the new WMCA last September because we had very few hard facts to go on at the time, and the advantages for Warwickshire were not obvious. However with the strong support that the WMCA has now received from Government, and with the geographical and regional rationale on which the WMCA is based, it is clear that Warwickshire could fit inside the new combined authority as a strong and equal partner to its other constituent members.
“With Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council having already decided to join the WMCA as a non-constituent member, and Stratford District Council likely to follow suit this week, the County Council needs to decide its future direction without further delay. The Lib Dems believe that the Conservative leadership of the County has been dragging its feet on this vital issue, and the time for action is now.”
The second motion expresses Lib Dem frustration at the lack of action by the Conservative administration, following a Council decision nearly two years ago to explore opportunities for unitary local government in Warwickshire in place of the current “two tier” system of county council and district/borough councils. It calls for work to start now to define what the best system should be for the future.
Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Lib Dem, Rugby Eastlands & Hillmorton), leader of the County Liberal Democrat Group, says:
“The financial pressures on local government are huge, and can only get worse. Residents are facing many millions of pounds worth of cuts, while at the same time Council Tax will keep increasing year on year. The Conservative leadership of the County Council has failed to address the unitary question over the last two years, despite a clear Council mandate to do so.
“The County Group of Liberal Democrats has long believed that unitary local government is the best model for Warwickshire, with opportunities to devolve more powers and decision making to local level, for example to town and parish councils, while realising efficiencies through elimination of costly duplication of resources.
“The Government has given a clear green light to Councils coming forward with soundly-based proposals for unitary local government in current two-tier areas. There are no longer any excuses for further procrastination on the part of the Conservative leadership.
“With both of the motions that we are putting forward today, the Liberal Democrats are saying clearly that it’s time for Warwickshire to face the future.”