A group of top-tier authorities has claimed they could save an average of £14m a year by switching to unitary status.
Bedfordshire CC has said a single county-wide authority could be better off by £25m a year, while Shropshire CC has predicted savings of £36m over four years.
Shropshire leader, Malcolm Pate, said: ‘We have worked out that we can make £7.8m savings on day one, without cutting services – and this is just the start.’
Shropshire CC’s business case predicts a one-off cost of £3m to reorganise the county, but states there will be annual savings of more than £7.8m in the first four years, plus an additional efficiency gain of £2m from reconfiguring local services.
Cornwall CC has said it could save £10m in the first two years, and even more after that, although the six districts in the county have disputed the figures, claiming it would cost at least £17m to create the new authority.
The Government has insisted any reorganisation plans must be cost-neutral within five years.
David Whalley, leader of Cornwall CC, said unitary status could ‘save millions of pounds which could then be used to protect and improve services’.
Other county councils are expected to publish their business cases shortly.
But Paul Spencer, interim head of policy and improvement at Norwich City Council, which is also bidding for unitary status, commented: ‘There is no doubt that the county councils putting through unitary bids can make a big efficiency argument.
‘The sort of bid you will get from places such as Norwich will be very different in nature. It will be about better government.’
Bedford BC and Durham CC both announced last week they would go for unitary status, prompting six of Durham’s seven district councils to come out against the idea.
