The District Councils’ Network’s new Chair took the reins last night at a crucial moment for all member councils.
Cllr Richard Wright, Leader of North Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire, took over from Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen at a House of Lords reception.
Cllr Wright, who heads DCN’s Conservatives – our largest political group, has been a district councillor since 2007 and leader of his council since 2017. He is also a Lincolnshire county councillor.
He becomes DCN Chair in the midst of local government reorganisation, which is due to lead all district councils to be merged with county councils to create new unitary authorities.
DCN is campaigning for new unitary councils to remain close to communities and for there to be no minimum population size for the new councils.
In his speech, Cllr Wright reflected on the quality of district services and urged that they were maintained by successor authorities.
“There’s huge pride in what we do – the services we deliver as a sector, the things we do for our residents, the places and homes we build, the communities we look after, the essential services we provide, whether statutory or non-statutory,” he said.
“As we go through reorganisation, we are going to need the wisdom of everyone in the sector – people with clear heads who colleagues in government and across the country can trust, to provide input that will serve our communities well.
“As districts, we’re not going to sit and wait for reform to happen. We have ambition and bold plans to drive change. We seek to further enhance our essential services so they come out stronger on the other side of reorganisation.”
Cllr Wright expressed concern that reorganisation was likely to lead to the loss of many councillors and officers, describing them as “people who spend all their time working for communities dedicated to making their places better”.
He also paid tribute to his predecessor: “Sam has managed to shout and stand up for local government without ever once raising his voice.
“He’s managed to get into those places we needed to get to, have essential conversations, champion local government of any political colour, without any kind of prejudice and make sure what we need to say is heard.
“I cannot thank Sam enough or what he has done over the past four years and I thank him for entrusting the role to me now.”
Cllr Wright also paid tribute to his Vice Chairs: Cllr Bridget Smith, of the Liberal Democrats; Cllr Susan Brown, of Labour and Cllr Paul Harvey, who has replaced Cllr Hannah Dalton as DCN’s Independent group leader.
And he thanked DCN’s “small and fantastic officer team that punches above its weight”.
In a letter to our 169 member councils, Cllr Chapman-Allen expressed his thanks to officers and councillors for their support over his four-year term of office.
“Thank you for your trust, collaboration, and dedication. While my period as Chair is coming to an end, my commitment to local government remains steadfast,” he wrote. “I will continue to serve alongside you from Breckland, advocating for strong, accountable, and resilient councils that deliver for their communities.”
