Plans to scrap six councils in Warwickshire and create a single unitary authority are to be debated in the county.
Warwickshire County Council believes a unitary authority would achieve savings of between £12m-£17m a year, generating up to £48m over four years. It also said the number of councillors in Warwickshire could be reduced from more than 250 to less than 100, and would give residents a single contact point making it easier to access services.
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: ‘Over the next four years the county council has to save £92m. When we consulted with the public on the proposals for our budget savings, a number of respondents indicated that we should be considering unitary local government to protect services.
‘There are 545,000 residents, more than £1bn in funding and we have 272 councillor roles across six councils (two district and three borough councils and one county council) representing us.’
A public debate on the issue will take place 25 February, with a report on the recommendations going before a full council meeting on the same date.
Ms Seccombe added: 'Local government has significant savings to make and we expect that the public sector will be the subject of further austerity measures beyond 2018.
We therefore believe that unitary local government merits further exploration in the interests of Warwickshire residents. We feel that this is the start of a crucial conversation which would benefit from the widest possible engagement and should be embraced as early on as possible.'
Last week a report for Leicestershire County Council said a unitary authority there would save over £30m a year.
Visit The MJ for a feature from Jim Graham, chief executive of Warwickshire CC, on this issue.
