Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
Size doesn’t matter say would-be unitaries
Four councils have told the Government that bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to creating a unitary authority.
Oxford, Norwich and Exeter city councils, together with Ipswich BC, have presented the Government with an independent report on their case, which has been prepared by the Institute of Local Government Studies (INLOGOV) at the University of Birmingham.
The report challenges the perception that only large cities should be granted unitary status, and calls for the Government to take other factors into consideration, such as quality of leadership and management. ‘In CPA terms, there are more excellent performers among the smallest-sized new unitaries,’ the report concludes.
All four councils are praised in the report for their good track record in attracting jobs and investment, and it is claimed, they could attract more if they were given more powers.
Exeter chief executive, Philip Bostock, said: ‘The fact is that with unitary status, Oxford, Norwich, Exeter and Ipswich could better deliver the Government’s agenda, and
