County's devolution bid may see election delayed

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Izzi Seccombe said her authority was "ready to go" with devolution



The six county, district and borough councils are set to be abolished if Warwickshire County Council gets the go-ahead to delay next May's local elections.

If the government backs the bid, it would pave the way for a single unitary authority to be established across the county in 2027.

The government has said it would consider postponing elections in this way after inviting expressions of interest for local government reorganisation.

The Conservative leader of the authority, Izzi Seccombe, confirmed she would be asking for a unitary authority based on the current borders and led by a leader and cabinet, not a mayor.

The government is set to sift through all expressions of interest, which must be filed by 10 January, and decide which areas go in which waves.

If Warwickshire is in the first wave, elections for the new unitary authority would take place in May 2026 and the new body would take control from April 2027.

If the government places Warwickshire in the second wave, elections are likely to take place as planned in May 2025, with the rest of the timescales put back by one year.

That would mean the new unitary would then take over from April 2028.

While she has had no meetings with the government on this, Seccombe said she believed Warwickshire was, and was seen to be, "ready to go".

She also said it was important Warwickshire was allowed to shape its own future.

"We don't want this done to us, we want to be able to shape it ourselves," she said.

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I smell a rat somewhere?

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I smell a rat somewhere?

A rather large one!

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Council leader defends delaying elections



Warwickshire County Council's leader has hit back at suggestions that she is looking to gain political advantage by delaying local elections.

Conservative Izzi Seccombe approved a decision to express interest in Warwickshire's councils being merged as part of a devolution deal.

Warwick District Council's opposition leader said such decisions should not be taken in the "clear self-interest of any political party".

But Seccombe said the decision to pursue a deal was "about our staff and our residents".

Liberal Democrat councillor Alan Boad, leader of the opposition at Warwick District Council, asked Seccombe not to join a "lemming-like rush" to postpone elections, like 12 other Tory-led councils.

He said Seccombe had not "managed to persuade the districts and boroughs" of the plans for a single authority since the idea was put forward by the county council in 2020.

In response, Seccombe said: "At all times I have sought not to be political on this."

"It is always my intention to do the best I can, not necessarily the best for the party because this is about our staff and our residents.

"At a time like this, that, surely, should be a decision that exceeds party politics."

Boad said time should be taken to think about the change, and discuss it with stakeholders, including representatives from other geographic areas, suggesting "appropriate" powers could be devolved to town or parish council level.

Seccombe said it was her vision to include towns and parishes, as long as they wanted to be involved.

"Those who say we are taking everything to Warwick and it is going to be too far away from the front line... it is not going to be in my vision but I am just one person and I want others to come forward and be part of it."

"In that vision, I see us creating more community area committees, planning committees that are local.

"This is what you shape in the next few years and that is why there is a need to delay the election in my opinion."

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Warwickshire council elections 2025 will go ahead after government snub



Warwickshire County Council elections will take place this year. It comes as the government snubbed its bid to be among the first chosen for its devolution priority programme.

Council leader councillor Izzi Seccombe took the decision to forge ahead with plans to create a unitary authority for Warwickshire and, in doing so, asked the government to postpone the planned local county council elections in May of this year . But the county's bid has not been chosen in the first wave of the programme.

It means that the elections can go ahead as planned this year. It means that voters across the county will go to the polls to decide who represents their area at Shire Hall.

As the government has not chosen Warwickshire for the first round, it is not yet clear what will happen to the proposals to make a unitary authority for Warwickshire. This would have seen all of the local borough and district councils, including Nuneaton and Bedworth, scrapped.

Instead, just one authority would have been in charge of Warwickshire. It is known that, under its devolution plans, the government wants to get rid of all two tier authorities - like the one in Warwickshire - and have one authority responsible for areas with a minimum of 500,000 people.

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Extraordinary meeting called to decide future of Warwickshire councils



An extraordinary meeting has been called to decide the future of councils in Warwickshire. All Warwickshire county councillors have been called to the special summit next week.

The extraordinary meeting has appeared on the council online diary. It is being held on Tuesday, February 18 and is entitled 'Unitary Local Government in Warwickshire'.

But, at the time of publication, there was no published agenda for the meeting. What is known is that it will be the first time that the council has discussed the devolution issue in public.

Shire Hall has remained silent ever since the government revealed that its bid for early devolution - to create a unitary authority for Warwickshire - had not been accepted into the first wave of devolution.

The county's plan, which included asking the government to postpone the planned local county council elections in May of this year, was not one of the nine chosen to be fast-tracked by the government.

CoventryLive has, since February 5, made repeated attempts to get a response from the council about the government's decision last week. We have so far yet to receive a comment.

Having missed out on the government's first wave of devolution, it is not clear what impact this will have on the unitary plans for Warwickshire. Some local borough and district leaders had not backed them in the first place, including Nuneaton and Bedworth's leader, councillor Chris Watkins, who said that he wanted 'all options' to be looked at.

Under the government plans, all two tier systems, like the one in operation in Warwickshire, will be abolished, scrapping the county and district and borough councils. In its place will be strategic authorities that have at least 500,000 residents,

The extraordinary meeting is due to be held at Shire Hall from 10am on Tuesday morning.

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Coventry 'merge' not ruled out by Nuneaton and Bedworth council



Asking Coventry City Council to form a new authority has not been ruled out by Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council. A special debate took place at the Town Hall last night (February 19) to discuss government devolution plans.

Under a White Paper, the government wants to get rid of all two-tier councils which is the current system in Warwickshire with the county council and local borough and district councils, and replace them with single authorities with 500,000 residents. The county council wants to forge ahead with a unitary authority for Warwickshire - which would replace all of the councils and have just one for the whole area.

While the majority of local borough councillors admitted that they did not want devolution at all, they conceded that it is happening - and White Hall has set a new initial deadline for proposals as March 21. But the future of the borough council, whether it be part of the Warwickshire plan or another, was the subject of debate.

Council leader, councillor Chris Watkins previously said that he wanted 'all options' to be looked at and this formed part of a motion that the Labour group tabled at the meeting. Green Party councillor Michele Kondakor tabled an amendment to the Labour motion, adding that before any submission is made to the government, the council meets again to discuss it.

This received backing from across the chamber. But the Conservatives then tabled another amended motion that scrapped any potential plans with neighbouring Coventry.

Conservative Cllr Sam Croft said that the devolution was the government's way of 'kicking' away its responsibility for social care and passing it onto the new authorities. He said that this burden, financially, could impact local front-line services.

"Coventry is an absolute no go for us, I maintain that we are two boroughs with one very big village and some smaller outlying villages and communities," he added. "We are not a city, it (Coventry) has a very different cultural and demographic profile and I maintain that the north of Warwickshire and the south of Warwickshire, however different they are, are more similar to each other than with Coventry."

But Cllr Steve Hey accused Warwickshire County Council of 'railroading' a plan for Warwickshire. "I want all options to be looked at, I don't want a situation where decide that we can't explore this option or that option, that is the sort of thing that Cllr Seccombe (the county council leader) wanted for Warwickshire, to have one options," he said.

"There are a number of different options, one of which could possibly include something with Coventry, Solihull and north Warwickshire as well as a north authority, a south authority or a Warwickshire authority.

"I cannot actually agree that our hands can be tied by the motion that excludes us talking to or involving Coventry." He also eluded to the fact that the government may allow an authority for 350,0000 residents, in special circumstances.

Labour leader Cllr Chris Watkins stressed that he has yet to have any talks with the city council leader, Cllr George Duggins, but he said he would not rule them out.

"To make it really clear to everybody, I don't want a unitary, I actually like being a councillor, I like being contacted by residents and sorting problems and this is something that will definitely be taken away by a bigger scheme.

"We don't know what this scheme is yet but we are in talks."

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Warwickshire councillors to discuss local authority merger plan



Councillors are set to discuss plans to create a single county-wide authority in Warwickshire, with proposals including halving the number of councillors, saving £21m a year as a result

Warwickshire County Council's cabinet will discuss a 26-page draft rationale on Thursday that makes the case for a new unitary authority, with discussions also including a proposal to join West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

Warwickshire is currently covered by one county council and five smaller district and borough councils, with services split over these two levels.

The government announced proposals last year for a major redesign of local authorities, which includes merging areas that have two tiers.

The six current councils have combined savings targets of £30.1m per year, rising to £97.8m in five years. The county's early estimates suggest £21m per year could be saved by one council, or £7m if there are two unitary authorities.

Warwickshire applied in January to be part of the first wave of the scheme, but it did not make it into a shortlist of six areas selected for fast-track devolution.

The rationale document supports the option of one county-wide body, but acknowledges counter-proposals for two bodies – one covering Warwick and Stratford districts, and the other covering Rugby, North Warwickshire, and Nuneaton and Bedworth.

It is argued that keeping services together in one authority would be more cost-effective.

An initial submission must be sent to the government by 21 March, with detailed proposals to be fleshed out by November.

The cabinet will be asked to vote to allow council leader Izzi Seccombe and chief executive Monica Fogarty to file Warwickshire's plan in line with the rationale.

There are 257 councillor seats across the six councils and, while some are held by "twin-hatter" councillors who serve at both levels, the county expects there to be 80-120 seats on a single council or 100-128 across two.

The rationale also looks at Warwickshire's economic relationship with neighbouring Coventry, whose city council is a full member of the WMCA.

Warwickshire council is a non-constituent member, with less power but also less financial obligation.

"Full membership of the West Midlands Combined Authority appears the logical option in terms of maintaining the critical Coventry and Warwickshire economic geography," the report said.