Wiltshire (Structural Change) Order 2008

rose to move, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Wiltshire (Structural Change) Order 2008. The noble Baroness said: This order, which was laid on 8 January, establishes the new unitary Wiltshire Council. It implements a proposal which Wiltshire County Council submitted to us in response to our invitation to councils issued in October 2006 in parallel with our White Paper. We have judged its proposal against the same five criteria set out in our invitation to councils, against which, as I discussed earlier, we assessed all 26 of the proposals that we originally received. As I informed the House on 5 December, our judgment is that, if the proposal for a unitary Wiltshire were implemented, there is a reasonable likelihood that it would achieve the outcomes specified by all five criteria in the invitation—that is, we believe that the proposal, if implemented, would achieve the outcomes on strategic leadership, neighbourhood flexibility, empowerment, delivery of value for money and efficiency in public services as specified in the criteria. Equally, we believe that, if made, the change would be affordable and would be supported by a broad cross-section of partners and stakeholders. Our judgment on affordability reflects Wiltshire County Council’s proposal. Having regard to all the other material and representations we have received, including the advice which our independent financial experts provided on the financial viability of the proposals, the expectation is that the change in Wiltshire will lead to savings of more than £18 million. Our judgment is that the proposal meets the support criterion which we discussed earlier in this debate. In the case of Wiltshire, the consultation last spring revealed both support and concerns. There is wide support from the business community. Most local chambers of commerce, for example, express support for the proposal. There was a substantial response to the consultation from members of the public, the vast majority of it in campaign form and by postal ballot. Two-thirds were opposed and one-third in favour. There was also an Ipsos MORI survey, which showed that 78 per cent agreed that councils should work together more closely. That was the only conclusion supported by subordinate questions. Many public sector stakeholders who responded cited the benefits of a single unitary council for Wiltshire. These benefits included coterminosity with its own boundaries and the gains that would arise through rationalised partnership working. Many of the local strategic partnerships welcomed the idea in Wiltshire’s proposals for area boards. Some voluntary and community sector respondents felt that a unitary Wiltshire Council would eliminate confusion over roles and responsibilities, although the majority were concerned that the unitary council might be too large and remote. The district councils had concerns about the affordability of the proposal and about the support for it. The Wiltshire Association of Local Councils consulted its membership, which expressed a range of views from welcoming a unitary Wiltshire to having concerns about it. It is clear from that that there was a wide range of views across all sectors. However, in the terms of the criterion discussed above, our judgment is that the proposal would command a broad cross-section of support from a range of stakeholders, both in the public and private sector as well as some support from the general public, and that this would make the proposal workable and effective. Turning to the order, as with the Northumberland order and all the orders we are discussing today, it is by no means a ““one size fits all”” approach, but one which allows each of these authorities to adopt the arrangements best suited to it. This order, on Wiltshire, was prepared following consultation and full discussion both with Wiltshire County Council and all the other affected councils in the area. The order provides that, from 1 April 2009, there will be a single tier of local government in Wiltshire and that the existing district councils will be dissolved and the county council transformed into a new unitary council having both district and county functions. It makes provisions for the key transitional arrangements, and provides for the establishment of an implementation executive to be led by the county council, whose membership will be drawn from the county and all the district councils. As in all the areas for which we are considering orders today, the membership and make-up of the implementation executive was discussed in detail with all the affected councils and a consensus reached. That is reflected in the order. The order provides that the county council will have the function of preparing for and facilitating the economic, effective, efficient and timely transfer of the district councils’ functions, property, rights and liabilities to the new council. It requires that these transitional functions be discharged by the implementation executive, which will remain responsible for these functions until April 2009 when the functions, assets and liabilities of the district councils are transferred. It provides for the creation of a team of officers in each area, again drawn from the county and all the district councils, to provide the necessary support to the implementation executive. Where this order differs from that for Northumberland is that, in Wiltshire, elections to the new unitary Wiltshire Council will take place in line with the usual county cycle in May 2009. There was agreement between the county and the district councils that elections should be held in May 2009. As I said, we understand that the Electoral Commission will be able to undertake an electoral review by this time, and put in place electoral arrangements that have regard to the new community and neighbourhood arrangements reflected in that proposal. In short, the order establishes a new unitary Wiltshire council that will have the form of local governance that local people should expect and demand. It will empower local communities, promote prosperity and deliver high quality services. I beg to move. Moved, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Wiltshire (Structural Change) Order 2008. 6th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, 7th Report from the Merits Committee.—(Baroness Andrews.)