Newark and Sherwood District Council cabinet members hear that Nottinghamshire boundary lines “unlikely to change” in upcoming devolution
It is “unlikely” that Nottinghamshire will become one singular unitary authority — or that boundary lines will change, councillors have said.
The upcoming devolution will see the government reorganise authorities into larger bodies, with each area only having one level of council — with Lincolnshire set to have one large such council.
At Newark and Sherwood District Council’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday (January 21), the upcoming devolution was discussed with members asking what it will mean for Nottinghamshire.
John Robinson said at the meeting that a white paper from the Government would have explained more details, which had not arrived at the meeting, but that members would be able to attend workshops to identify options for the Nottinghamshire devolution and discuss population figures and geography to decide on a plan for Nottingham as a city and Nottinghamshire county from a Newark and Sherwood perspective.
Mr Robinson added that the devolution journey was not going to be an easy one, and that the council would not be asked if they want devolution but “to design our own, or it will be designed for us”.
Chairman Paul Peacock said: “It’s a really important issue and I’m keen all our members get chance to come to briefings and try to gain consensus through a full council meeting.”
Paul Taylor said that he didn’t want to see a devolution across the whole of Nottinghamshire as it is “too big an area” and he didn’t want the council to make decisions rashly because “they won’t be here in two years time”.
Peter Harris asked if the current county boundaries, which were set in 1875, were “sacrosanct” as he said there was contention over the county boundaries, where there were many neighbouring areas which had much closer affinity to our areas.
Paul Peacock responded that it was unlikely that county borders would change in the upcoming devolution.
“It seems to be the consensus that we will have to remain within the county boundaries — and our East Midlands Mayor is keen that the current boundaries remain.”
John Robinson said that there needed to be “exceptional reasons to change county boarders and that most mayors will resist any adjustment to their boundaries but others said if there is a good reason for movement of county boundaries, that’s a compelling case to make.”
Johno Lee said that he was concerned that the council would “spend spend spend” and that other authorities were opening their banks as the council wouldn’t be there for much longer, and the council needs to be careful with their assets, and that whatever the unitary authority is going forward that they can be stable and able to go forward.
He also warned against the council making “short term decisions” and that decisions made are still viable in three years time, and that is past decisions were still relevant.
Rowan Cozens said that she believed the district council to be stable and a “beacon”, and that the members would be listened to because of that and the behaviours of its councillors, and that the devolution would be a good thing.
“Some change is definitely necessary, change is scary but not necessarily a bad thing — we have a responsibility to not put anything in public arena to cause alarm, we are a stable organisation,” she added.
Mr Peacock added that after speaking to the other Nottinghamshire authorities, he thought it was “difficult to believe” that we [Nottinghamshire] will end up with a single county-wide authority.
