West Suffolk Council is set to vote on a proposal for the creation of three new unitary authorities as part of the Government’s push to reorganise local government.
The motion recommends the council continues to work with the other district and borough councils to develop a final proposal for three ‘locally-focused’ unitary councils.
Cllr Cliff Waterman, leader of West Suffolk Council, said: ‘This is a once in a generation opportunity to ensure local government stays local and delivers for the communities and businesses it serves.’
Suffolk County Council, which supports a single unitary authority covering the whole of the county, criticised the proposal because the boundaries of the proposed authorities have not been published.
Cllr Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for devolution, local government reorganisation and NSIPs, said the district authorities are ‘keeping the public in the dark and putting service users at potential risk.’
‘Either the district and borough councils don’t know where their new councils would be, can’t agree where they should be, or do know but are too scared to share the details with the public because they know it will cause outcry,’ he added.
