MP backs proposal to cut county in two

A Worcestershire MP has backed a proposal to split the county in two to form northern and southern council run services.

Redditch's Labour MP, Chris Bloore, said a new North Worcestershire authority – made up of Redditch, Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest district councils - would best fit the government's devolution agenda.

However, Worcestershire's political leaders appear deadlocked over which option is best.

In a separate proposal, Worcestershire County Council has argued replacing the county's seven existing authorities with a single one could save more than £20m a year.

"For towns like Redditch… I don't think we should be going straight to a Worcestershire-wide solution," said Bloore.

"We're at a time where, if we're honest, Worcestershire County Council is going through a very difficult time. Its delivery of services in certain areas, like children's services, hasn't been the best.

"And I think we've already seen in Redditch and Bromsgrove that those councils have worked well in shared partnership and delivery of services. So, I'm pretty confident that we could do it again," he said.

Under current population figures, a North Worcestershire authority would be home to just under 288,000 people.

While criteria set in Labour's English Devolution White Paper stipulate that new unitary councils must serve at least 500,000 people, Bloore said he believed the government would show flexibility.

At the moment, Worcestershire's political leaders appear deadlocked over which option is best.

Although Worcestershire County Council and Wyre Forest District Council have argued a single unitary authority is the only option to meet the government's criteria, both Worcester City Council and Malvern Hills District Council have said they would prefer the county be split in two.

Three other districts, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wychavon, said both options needed further exploration.

"One Worcestershire council would be more effective and efficient," said Simon Geraghty, the Conservative leader of the county council, at a scrutiny meeting on Tuesday.

A new border would follow existing district council boundaries, cutting right through the village of Astwood Bank, where residents currently live under different district councils – either Redditch or Wychavon – with different rates of council tax and different bin days.

But in future, the creation of two new unitary councils could see neighbours receiving different provision for services, such as roads, public transport, social care and libraries.

"We want the best bang for our buck," said Roy Stanley, who currently lives on the Wychavon side of the village.

He said he favoured a single council.

"At the end of the day we just want decent services for the amount of money that we pay out. I think that's the main thing," he said.

"Actually making an area bigger in terms of local government doesn't always necessarily make it better," said resident Karen Arnold, who said she preferred the idea of splitting the county in two.

"There's a huge variety in population… and what populations need in this area.

"And I think if you've got a very large area to cover, it gets very difficult to tailor services to what the actual population needs," she said.

With Astwood Bank just a few minutes' drive from the neighbouring county of Warwickshire, resident Katie Taylor-Jones said county boundaries had made local public transport less joined up.

"We're ten minutes' drive away… we can't get buses very easily between those places. It doesn't encourage us to be able to use public transport," she said.

"If they kind of stop on a particular road and say, well, that's as far as we're going, because here's the boundary, that makes it complex, I think."

While councillors in Worcestershire have until November to submit a business case for proposals to the government, any negotiations are likely to be interrupted by county council elections on 1 May.

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