Council reorganisation 'could save £30m'

Replacing councils in Staffordshire with two unitary authorities could save £30m, according to plans set out by three councils in the county.

A joint submission from Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire and Stafford borough councils complemented separate proposals from Stoke-on-Trent City Council, they said.

Their report said the best option would be for one unitary council to cover the areas of Stafford, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, South Staffordshire and Tamworth, while another would encompass Staffordshire Moorlands, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent.

The plans are among a raft of proposals due to be decided on by the government next year.

MPs set out legislation that would see all district, borough, city and county councils in Staffordshire abolished, and replaced by unitary authorities.

It has caused tension - with politicians fighting it out to redraw the county's political boundaries.

The county council, led by Reform UK, has suggested an east-west division, while three councils in the south of the county have called for a three-way split.

Meanwhile, some Tory politicians have outright rejected calls to reorganise local government or put forward plans to split from the remainder of the county if they are forced to combine services currently shared out between county and borough councils.

A report for Cannock Chase East Staffordshire and Stafford included figures which estimated their plan would save £29.9m per year and create a "more financially resilient authority".

All proposals must be submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government by 28 November.

"We recognise the challenges facing local government - rising demand, constrained resources, and increasing complexity, and we believe that this proposal demonstrates a clear way forward," the three authorities' bosses said in a joint statement.

They said their submission, which is similar to Stoke-on-Trent's, meant it had a majority backing among local authorities in Staffordshire.

They added that their proposal met all the government's criteria for local government reorganisation and had the highest level of ongoing financial savings of all the options being put forward.

The proposal will be debated at the three authorities' full council and cabinet meetings in November, before the formal submission is made to the government later in the month.

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