The District Councils’ Network (DCN)  has said that no alternative exists to strong, community-focused councils, in response to the Local Government Minister’s update on the reorganisation of councils today.

In a written statement to MPs, Jim McMahon MP summarised the Government’s feedback on reorganisation proposals submitted by councils which will have a huge bearing on vital local services and the lives of 20 million people.

This will be the biggest shake-up of local government in the past 50 years, with 21 county councils merging with 164 district councils to create new unitary authorities.

In his statement, Mr McMahon said urged the adoption of a “simplified and standardised system of local area-working and governance”, involving the creation of “neighbourhood area committees”

The Government has also announced allocations of the £7.6m capacity fund to help councils prepare final LGR bids. Each of the 21 areas will receive a flat rate of £135,000, plus an additional 20p per person based on the latest ONS population estimates

In response, Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, Chairman of the District Councils’ Network, said:

“District councils are working flat-out to devise creative proposals to build a new system of local government that serves the needs of local communities in the decades to come whilst continuing to deliver day-to-day services.

“DCN supports local government reorganisation if it’s a bottom-up approach, puts residents front and centre, improves services, is backed by communities and ensures that local government remains local. However, it’s still far from clear that these conditions will be met.

“The danger is we’ll see the imposition of mega councils with populations bigger than 500k. We welcome the Government’s acceptance that 500k should be a guideline rather than a strict minimum threshold. But it’s vital that the Government gives a fair hearing to LGR proposals for smaller unitary councils that are closer to their local places. There is no evidence that bigger unitary councils guarantee better outcomes. On the contrary, smaller councils can – and often do – outperform bigger ones.

“The Government appears to recognise the need for strong neighbourhood governance in new unitary areas. But we think its preference for creating neighbourhood area committees is insufficient and inferior to the clear democratic ethos of a smaller, locally based unitary council. We remain concerned that mega councils would be remote from communities, undermine local decision making and weaken local democracy.

“We urge ministers to clarify how the views of everyone in the local community will be fairly considered when decisions are taken about which proposal is approved for each area. They shouldn’t be seduced by claims of vast savings from imposing bigger councils on communities when there’s no evidence from previous reorganisation to back them up.”

Cllr Chapman-Allen also noted that the Government has fallen behind with the process. Each local area was expecting feedback by the start of May – and the last areas have only received it at the beginning of June.

“The Government has imposed a breakneck timetable for reorganisation and has fallen behind at the first hurdle. This must raise questions about its capacity to adjudicate on so many proposals simultaneously and to implement LGR on the ambitious timescale it has set out,” he said.

“Future generations will not thank us if we botch reorganisation now. It’s far more important that we get it right, using this as an opportunity to empower communities, remove barriers between local public services and build a more dynamic and efficient local public sector, rather than rushing and getting substandard results.”