Tewkesbury Borough Council endorses a county-wide unitary approach to devolution
Posted on: 29 January 2025
Tewkesbury Borough Council supports keeping Gloucestershire as a whole county when it moves to a single unitary authority.
At a Tewkesbury Borough Council meeting last night (Tuesday, 28 January 2025), the Council voted to support the Leader, Cllr Richard Stanley’s, position that the optimal outcome for the borough and county is for Gloucestershire to remain intact and not to be divided into east and west divisions.
Cllr Stanley said: “This council does not want to see the break-up of Gloucestershire. By keeping the county as a whole, we’d see the creation of strong parish, town and city councils and the Government has said we would see increased investment for improving existing services.
“Splitting the area in two could mean that different parts of Gloucestershire manage highways, health and social care, education, waste and recycling, and planning rules in different ways, which could cause more confusion among our hard-working residents – and they deserve better.
“Keeping Gloucestershire intact will ignite and see sustainable growth, delivering better outcomes for residents.’’
Central government proposed the English Devolution White Paper in early December 2024 and a decision is soon expected to be announced which will see a selected number of areas invited to join the government’s Devolution Priority Programme.
This will determine the Government’s position on Gloucestershire and whether changes will take place in phase one or two of the local government reorganisation.
Phase one would see the first set of new unitary councils begin operation in April 2027 with phase two set for April 2028.
The Government expects all two-tier areas to develop proposals for reorganisation and will take a phased approach to delivery, taking into account where reorganisation could unlock devolution. Further papers will be brought to the Council to discuss as they are issued from central government.
