Three options to reshape Nottinghamshire councils
Plans to radically reshape Nottinghamshire councils have taken a major step forward.The government announced in December it wants to reorganise local authorities in an attempt to streamline services, and councils have been tasked with coming up with proposals.Leaders from all nine current Nottinghamshire councils met on Wednesday and were shown three possible options by consultants.All three options involve the current two-tiered system used in the county being scrapped, and the area being divided into two "unitary" authorities - meaning they take charge of all council services within their boundaries.
Option one: A north and south Nottinghamshire
This would involve Bassetlaw, Mansfield, Ashfield, and Newark and Sherwood combining to create a unitary authority in the north - one leader has dubbed this "Sherwood Forest council".Nottingham City, Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe would then merge in the south - establishing a so-called "Greater Nottingham council".One leader told the BBC there is a "clear advantage" to this option.It would likely be unpopular with some people in the boroughs surrounding the city, however, thousands of whom have signed petitions against such a move.City leaders have previously argued the council's tight boundaries contribute to their financial problems because about 80% of its properties fall under council tax bands A or B - so this option would likely help them.
Option two: Nottingham, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe combine
Under this scenario, Nottingham city would join with the current boroughs of Broxtowe and Rushcliffe to create one unitary authority, with the other districts and boroughs combining to create a second.This looks much like option one, except with Gedling Borough in the northern council rather than the south.Broxtowe Borough Council leader Milan Radulovic, however, told the BBC he objects to any merger with the city."The only way it seems the city can get out of their problems is by taking over cash-rich authorities like Broxtowe in the locality, and that will be very, very hostilely met by people," he said.
Option three: A unitary Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
This would keep the current boundary between the city and the county in place but would do away with the two-tiered system in the latter.This is the preferred option of the Conservative leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Sam Smith, who argues that services in current county areas could suffer if they were to join with the city.It would, however, mean the population of the city council - currently around 320,000 - would remain below the government's aim of 500,000, so it would do nothing to help with the city's low council tax base.City Council leader Neghat Khan has so far refused to say explicitly which option she prefers.
What next?
It is important to note that these proposals are not binding, so nothing from the above is set in stone.Each of the current councils is set to debate them and endorse a preferred option in the coming weeks.In a joint statement, a spokesperson for the leaders said they were "absolutely determined to work together", but some were already disagreeing with one another both publicly and in private.The statement adds that they have been given "an incredibly tight timescale" to pull together plans, and they don't have enough data "to make a fully informed decision on a single option".It was also accepted during Wednesday's meeting that some councils "may still wish to continue to explore additional proposals".In other words, someone isn't happy with what is on the table so far.The deadline for interim plans to be submitted to government is 21 March, with full proposals then due to be sent by 28 November.Any new structure is set to be implemented in 2027 or 2028.
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