𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Labour’s suggestion that new mega councils will save money and improve services has been slapped down by councillors. The District Councils’ Network (DCN) said a study found “little to no evidence” that increasing the size of councils to cover a population of 500,000 would save money and improve services.

Councillor Richard Wright, chairman of the DCN, said: “We are told that mega councils will be more efficient, but the evidence shows that population size of councils is essentially irrelevant to their financial health and, if anything, the largest councils’ services perform less well. It’s astonishing that the Government has not undertaken its own analysis of the relative merits of unitary councils of different population sizes. But our findings should lead ministers to admit that there’s no evidence that bigger councils cost taxpayers less.

“While you can of course get both large and small councils in robust financial health, councillors and senior managers will often find it easier to spot efficiencies if an authority is smaller, because they are less removed from frontline staff and service users.”

A shake-up of local councils, announced by the Government last year, will mean smaller district councils are merged with local county councils to create single bodies known as unitary authorities.

The new bodies would represent populations of about 500,000.

The DCN said its analysis of data covering existing English unitary councils showed the biggest councils do not outperform their smaller counterparts on either spending or service delivery.

James Cleverly, Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government, said: “Labour thinks bigger government means better government. In reality, it means top-down restructuring that ignores local opinion, tramples over geography and identity, and lands families with higher bills. There is no evidence they save money or improve outcomes.

“Faced with collapsing support, Keir Starmer’s Labour are trying to rig the system. Top-down reorganisations and discredited voting systems won’t help them cling to power, because the Labour Party is unpopular and this Labour Government is failing our country.

“Across the country, Labour councils are taxing people more and delivering worse services. They are failing to fix roads, clean bins, or focus on the people’s priorities because they are too weak to take the tough decisions to build a stronger local economy. Conservative councils fix potholes quicker, have lower average council tax and have local people at the heart of their mission.”

Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said creating more unitary authorities “may be the direction of travel” but warned they are not a “silver bullet”.

He added: “Bigger councils don’t automatically mean better value for money. Councillors must have clear plans to deliver savings and preserve local democracy. A one-size-fits-all system risks being the worst of both worlds”.

Leader of Lancashire County Council and chairman of Reform UK’s Local Government Association, Councillor Stephen Atkinson, said people should lead the way in what an area wants.

He said: “Local government reorganisation should be determined by what the people of an area want, not by boffins in Whitehall or councillors who choose to cancel local elections so they can carve up historic counties with cultural identities into meaningless unitaries.

“The tectonic plates of local government are constantly moving, so it would be impossible to design one solution that could be applied to every area. Each community and county is different. Every area has its own unique demographics, challenges, demands and service capabilities.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “One of the reasons local authorities are under such financial strain is because of multiple layers of duplication, blurred lines of accountability between councils and therefore millions of pounds of waste.

“By doing the long overdue work to bring services under one roof, we will save money and residents will subsequently benefit from improved public services.”