Moving to unitary councils could save £3bn, report claims

Merging districts and county councils in England could deliver £3bn in savings over five years and ‘maximise’ the benefits of economic growth and housing policy, according to a new report. 

The report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the County Councils Network (CCN) shows merging district and county councils in each area into a single unitary council could save £2.94bn over five years nationally.

The report concludes a single unitary in each area would reduce complexity and give communities a single unified voice to government.

It would provide a clear point of contact for residents, businesses and a platform to ‘maximise’ the benefits of strategic economic growth and housing policy; integral to the ‘levelling-up’ agenda and securing devolution.

However, the report shows replacing county and districts with two unitary authorities in each area would reduce the financial benefit by two-thirds to £1bn over five years, with three unitary authorities delivering a net loss of £340m over the same period.

A fourth scenario of a two-unitary and children’s trust model in each county would deliver a net five year saving of £269m.

According to CCN, the report outlines a ‘compelling’ financial case for the creation of a single county unitary in areas where councils seek reorganisation.

This will  help ‘safeguard’ council services in the wake of the pandemic, while ensuring councils are of the necessary size to drive forward the economic recovery and devolution agendas, it argues.

‘The findings from PwC show there is a compelling financial case for the creation of more unitary counties where councils seek reorganisation,’ said CCN chairman, Cllr David Williams.

‘They will provide significant savings to support frontline services and the stability needed to safeguard care services as we continue to mitigate the impact of Coronavirus. Crucially, it will create councils of the necessary size to support local economies to recover from the pandemic and drive forward the devolution and levelling up agendas.

‘In contrast, an arbitrary population threshold that limits the size of any new council will cap our areas’ ambitions and create significant risks in delivering care services. This evidence shows it would mean a worse deal for local taxpayers, create confusion, costs, and complexity, and potentially deliver a postcode lottery for local services and the economic recovery.’

‘Unitary counties won’t lead to a democratic deficit. Rather, as evidenced by authorities that have already made this journey, they have the potential to bring services closer to residents, developing new ways for residents to engage and shape service provision more effectively and enhance local democratic participation with empowered town and parish councils.’

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