Dispelling Myths about Unitary Bid - letter in Wells Journal 28 Dec 2006

9.00.47am GMT Thu 4th Jan 2007

Your readers may find, as I certainly did, considerable clarity in this briefing below from Alan Jones, the chief executive of Somerset County Council.

Myth 1: The County Council is trying to take over the districts.

Fact 1: The unitary council would be a completely new organisation and would replace both the County Council and the five District Councils.

Myth 2: The County Council is in financial difficulty and is using the unitary bid as a way of acquiring the district's funds.

Fact 2: All County Councils have very challenging budgetary pressures and Somerset has some additional demographic and economic issues to deal with but we are not in 'financial difficulty.' On the contrary we are nationally recognised as having very sound financial management by the Audit Commission and by our external auditors. Our target for efficiency savings alone is greater than the total net budget of some District Councils.

Myth 3: The creation of a unitary authority would be very expensive and would cost £xx million.

Fact 3: There would be set up and transition costs but none of the claims about these are accurate. We are working on these estimates at the moment and as soon as we have a reliable figure we will share it with the public. However, there will be substantial savings to the taxpayer, year on year, in replacing six councils with one. These ongoing savings will repay the transition costs within a very short time. This is being demonstrated and independently audited and verified as part of the business case.

Myth 4: The unitary authority would not be able to get in touch with or keep in touch with localities or support local parish and town councils.

Fact 4: It will be easier for local people and for local councils to work with the unitary council as it will be a single point of governance and one voice for Somerset. The business case will propose, however, that the unitary authority should have many local access points and local forums, thus making it easier for local people to receive a joined up service in their local community.

Myth 5: The unitary authority would create a democratic deficit and might have as few as 60 councillors.

Fact 5: No-one yet knows how many councillors there will be but this is being examined as part of the business case. Government advice is that, as a rule of thumb, a County Council making a submission should look at a doubling of their councillors as a template for the new authority.

What this means for Somerset is that the new unitary council could have at least 116 councillors. More than half of these will come from outside the County Council which reinforces the point that this will be a completely new authority, led and managed by different people.

Whatever you think of the current institutions of local government I know that you all want to protect and enhance the county of Somerset - an administrative unit that has existed for more than eleven hundred years, older than England itself and older than any modern European nation-state.

I have therefore ignored the other myth: that two unitary councils which divide the county down the middle would be better than one.

The whole purpose of preparing the business case for 'One Somerset - One Council for Somerset is to show the people of Somerset how we can serve them better and at less cost than at present.

Amen.

Jim Mochnacz - County Councillor for Street