For Exeter City Council chief executive, Philip Bostock, going unitary is nothing new, it’s just maintaining a tradition of self-rule which dates back to the 16th century.

The council first published an outline case for unitary status in April 2006, and was for many local government insiders, a favourite to be on the Government’s 16-strong shortlist, which came out last month.
So, few were shocked when Exeter City Council did indeed make it on the list.
‘I wouldn’t say I was surprised,’ says Mr Bostock. ‘I was relieved when I found out we were on the shortlist.
‘I had been nervous about the stories which came out in the run up, because it’s dangerous to believe those.’ Place shaping is at the heart of the council’s business case for unitary status, as well as a desire to drive the city’s economic growth.
‘We were, in effect, a unitary council between 1537 and 1974, which is quite a long time,’ Mr Bostock continues. ‘However, over the last 33 years, we have been relegated to city council status. We have only been a short time out of being a unitary. So, one of the things which has been levelled at us by the county council, which is that we are tearing the heart out of the county, is nonsense.
‘The case for us is a powerful one. We are a massively-successful regional city. And we have huge potential to grow into an even more powerful city in the region.
‘If this is a signal for what is to come – and it’s clear that the Government likes the template of large county councils – we are going to see a hugely-different local government landscape. Districts need to fight back. It will be hard for large county unitaries to replicate what the districts do at a local level.’
One of the big advantages for many councils considering unitary status is that it will make the workings of local government more transparent to the public.
‘We all know it’s a challenge to engage the public on the work of local government, but I’m absolutely convinced we have a better chance of doing that, if we have one council doing everything,’ adds Mr Bostock.
Devon CC has made no secret about its opposition to the Exeter bid, and Mr Bostock rubbished its claims that unitary status would cost £20m to set-up.
He says the council’s business case projects transitional costs of £6.5m to set the new council up, and it will deliver savings of £11.9m over the first five years.
‘We have no fear at all about our figures,’ he says. ‘The county council has thrown a lot of resources at this.
‘It has seconded a large number of staff to work in a unit faighting our bid. It has massive resources to deploy, but I think quality beats quantity. We are keeping the high ground.’
Council leader, Roy Slack, says he expected Exeter to make it on to the shortlist.
‘I wasn’t surprised because I thought we had a good case,’ he says.
‘The business case we put forward was well researched and well received. The business case stood up for itself.’
Cllr Slack says the unitary bid has cross-party support from all four political groups on Exeter. Local MP and environment minister Ben Bradshaw has also come out in support of Exeter’s bid, but Cllr Slack adds: ‘Of course, having your MP supporting you on an issue like this is important. But all we are asking is to go back to the way we were in 1974.
‘We can deliver services better than the services delivered in the recent past.
‘The main advantage as far as Exeter is concerned is it will be more focused in terms of local government.
‘It will be closer to the community of Exeter. I think a unitary will also fit in well with the Government’s agenda of double devolution.
‘The other districts in Devon are not supporting the county’s view. They understand Exeter’s case for unitary status.
‘What voters don’t want is the misunderstanding, which happens at the moment, when one authority blames another for something that has not been done.
‘If you have a unitary there’s no hiding place. You have to deal with it. There’s no blurring of the edges.’
The bid has also been backed by the Exeter Chamber of Commerce, the University of Exeter and the Marsh Barton Forum, which represents more than 500 local businesses. For the leader of Devon CC, Brian Greenslade, the case against Exeter is a simple one.
‘Exeter is a very small authority,’ he tells The MJ. ‘It really does not have the capacity to deliver the services of a one-tier authority. On top of that, there would be consequences for the rest of Devon.’
Cllr Greenslade said it cost between £17m and £15m to set up Plymouth and Torbay councils in the last round of reorganisation.
He also dismissed claims the county council was spending large amounts of money fighting the Exeter bid. He said the authority had spent £35,000 so far, and had just authorised to spend a further £32,000, compared with an estimated £175,000 budgeted by the city council.
‘I would say we have been modest in what we are spending,’ he adds. He says the county council is committed to working with the other districts on an improved two-tier model. Like fellow shortlisted councils,Ipswich BC and Norwich City Council, Exeter’s unitary ambitions provide real challenges, not just for itself, but for all the neighbouring authorities, including the county.
All three aforementioned councils have been working together, sharing information on their respective bids, which were also given the thumbs-up in a report from the Institute of Local Government Studies (INLOGOV) at the University of Birmingham. The report challenged the perception that only large cities could be given unitary status, prompting the inevitable ‘size matters’ headlines.
While it is true to say that big can be beautiful, small can be perfectly formed, sometimes, too. n