The Green Leaders of Forest of Dean District Council and Stroud District Council have confirmed that they remain open to considering the options for one or two unitary councils in Gloucestershire. 

The proposals setting out the current options about how local government in the county should be reorganised, were submitted to the Government on Friday (March 21).

Cllr Adrian Birch, Leader of Forest of Dean District Council, said: “We are open to considering all the options for new unitary councils and supporting the one which gives the best future for our local communities.

“In recent weeks, there’s been much discussion about the one-unitary and two-unitary council proposals, but it’s too early to decide which one to go for, in the absence of more evidence about their impact on local services and democratic representation. Wide community and stakeholder engagement will also be essential to inform our final decisions ahead of the deadline in November.” 

Cllr Catherine Braun, Leader of Stroud District Council, added: “The bigger picture for devolution, and arguably the more important decision for Gloucestershire, is which strategic authority we want to align with, as that’s where any additional powers and funding will be secured for the county. All the evidence we’ve seen so far points to Gloucestershire joining the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).

“This would allow us to stay connected to our regional capital in Bristol and to remain within the South West region. We have strong ties to WECA through alignment of our economic sectors, joint projects, and our shared West Country identity. This alignment would also build on the work of the Western Gateway pan-regional partnership, which strengthened working across the West of England region and Wales.”

Both the Forest of Dean and Stroud district councils have agreed to consider any future unitary council options in relation to a set of principles, in addition to the Government’s tests for financial viability.

These principles include: maintaining delivery of council services at a local level; securing economic prosperity which meets the needs of all, particularly the most vulnerable; a focus on long-term effectiveness not just short-term savings; protection of the environment with ambitious nature recovery and climate action; recognition of our strong local identities; support for parish and town councils and the voluntary and community sector; a balanced structure which does not exacerbate wealth imbalances; and the strengthening of local democratic input and representation.

NOTES

Forest of Dean District Council principles for Local Government Reorganisation

Item 9 – Forest of Dean District Council, para 4.3

https://meetings.fdean.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=120&MId=5583&Ver=4

Stroud District Council principles for Local Government Reorganisation

Item 3, paragraph 3.3

https://stroud.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=143&MId=1587&Ver=4

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Gloucestershire Greens say the Gloucestershire County Council elections in May must go ahead, for the sake of public trust in local democracy.

The county’s Green parties – Stroud District, Forest of Dean, Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Cotswold and Gloucester – say the Conservative administration’s proposal to postpone the elections for a year is “undemocratic” and “must be resisted”.

The Conservatives want to postpone the elections to focus on fast-tracking the government’s plans for ‘devolution’ – the abolition of 164 district councils and 21 county councils across the country, with power moved to new and larger local authorities.

Adrian Oldman, joint coordinator of Stroud District Green Party, said: “Given the Conservatives’ current wafer-thin majority on GCC, they are likely to lose control in May. Their attempt to postpone the elections seems opportunistic, manipulating the system so they can cling on to power for another year.

“It is undemocratic, unnecessary and totally unacceptable. If the elections are postponed, or maybe, cancelled, these seemingly inevitable proposals for supersized councils will be pushed through by councillors whose terms will have expired. The elections must go ahead for the sake of democracy.”

Cheltenham Borough councillor Tabi Joy commented: “Even though this reorganisation would have profound effects on our communities, neither residents nor councils have been consulted. There has been no opportunity for any formal debate or vote on the matter. But if councils refuse to cooperate, the changes will be forced on us by the government. We have no choice but to engage with the process and try to get the best possible outcome for our residents, businesses and local democracy.”

Adam Shearing, coordinator of Gloucester Green Party, added that postponement of the elections would unfairly delay the election of the two additional Gloucestershire county councillors proposed almost two years ago (March 2023) by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. “The LGBCE deemed that people in Gloucestershire are already under-represented in terms of the number of county councillors. A postponement would be unfair in that it continues the democratic deficit for yet another year.”

Greens support genuine devolution, but say the proposed reforms would take power away from local communities. Dr Clare Turner of the Cotswold Green Party said: “Everything points to ‘devolution’ being forced through. It will steal decision-making power away from local people by placing power in the hands of vast councils, remote from our communities and controlled by central government. This can only undermine local democracy, leaving communities feeling even more powerless, further eroding trust and confidence in politics.”

At Tewkesbury Green Party, coordinator Matt Dimond-Brown called the reorganisation “an outright attack on local democracy”, saying: “Middle-sized towns will be wiped from the political map in this gerrymandering exercise, and rural areas will see power moved further away, held by fewer locally elected representatives.

“This isn’t about genuine devolution or even increased efficiency; Labour’s primary purpose is to remove ‘the blockers’ and drive growth. They want to take power from elected councillors and give it to developers.”

Tim Rickard, joint coordinator of the Forest of Dean Green Party, pointed out that the Government’s proposals face opposition even from inside the Labour Party. The belief that they were about “destroying local democracy” and imposing “nothing short of a dictatorship” was among the issues that led to 20 councillors at Broxtowe borough council in Nottinghamshire resigning from Labour to form a new Independent group.

He said: “The local elections in May must go ahead so that voters can choose who represents them as these massive changes go through. Instead of colluding with the Labour government to scrap the elections, the Conservative County Council must allow voters to exercise their fundamental democratic rights.”

The county’s Green leaders will be writing to their MPs to ask them to ensure May’s elections go ahead as planned.  Greens believe in bottom-up politics, informed by those directly involved, and will do their utmost to protect our communities and local democracy through this process.

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