Staffordshire councillors “totally opposed” to proposal to split town in local government reorganisation

The current system of county, borough and district authorities in Staffordshire is set to be scrapped in two years’ time, to be replaced by single councils delivering all services, as part of national changes.

Five options have been put forward for future council areas in Staffordshire, ranging from two to four new authorities covering the county and Stoke-on-Trent city areas. The Government is currently seeking views on the proposals before it decides on the “most appropriate model for local government in the area”, a report to Tuesday’s Stone Town Council meeting said.

Stafford Borough Council has backed plans for a new authority covering the six southern district and borough areas, including Stone. But Staffordshire Moorlands District Council suggested a northern Staffordshire council, combining it with the Newcastle Borough and Stoke-on-Trent areas, which could include Stone and its surrounding villages, separating the town from Stafford Borough.

Staffordshire County Council is proposing two new authorities for the east and west, which would see Stone become part of the western council along with the rest of Stafford Borough. A fourth option, suggested by Lichfield District Council’s leader, would see the six southern districts and boroughs divided into south-west and south-east councils, while Newcastle Borough Council has proposed four unitary councils, along similar lines to the fourth option but with two authorities in the north including Newcastle as a standalone.

Stone Town Council’s response to the consultation, presented at Tuesday’s meeting (March 3), said the option to combine six existing authority areas in the south and three in the north to form two councils “has many advantages for Stone”. It added: “It retains the existing strong links with Stafford which have been built up over many years, particularly since the formation of Stafford Borough Council following the 1974 local government reorganisation.

“Stafford is currently the administrative centre that that Stone residents look to for both county and borough level local government services, and it is expected that these links would remain, with Stafford as the administrative centre for the new South Staffordshire council.

“By combining six current borough/district council areas, the new unitary council would have a population base of around 600,000 residents. This is likely to result in a stable council which is financially and operationally viable, building on the current financial position of the constituent authorities.”

Considering the east and west county split, the town council’s response stated: “Many of the advantages of the previous option for Stone also apply to this one, however the proposed West Staffordshire authority would be significantly smaller than the proposed South Staffordshire council above, so may suffer from reduced financial and operational viability compared with that option. Stone Town Council would only support this option should its preferred option prove to be unviable.”

The town council’s response opposed the options put forward by Lichfield District Council and Newcastle Borough Council. And it said it “strongly opposes” Staffordshire Moorlands District Council’s proposal.

The report said: “This option would result in a change of administrative centre from Stafford to Stoke-on-Trent for Stone residents after many years of looking to Stafford for all of their principal authority services, and breaking the current strong links with Stafford. This would be likely to cause confusion and uncertainty for many Stone residents seeking to access local government services, especially if an administrative centre still exists in Stafford to service the south of the county.

“The division of the current Stafford Borough and East Staffordshire Borough would be likely to require a significant amount of work, and protracted negotiations, to split existing assets and services between the new North and South Staffordshire councils. This would be an unnecessary distraction bearing in mind the significant level of other work that would be required to bring so many different councils together and establish financially and operationally viable organisations by the likely deadline of April 2028.

“A further issue would be the current financial position of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, which is already in receipt of exceptional financial support from the Government. There is therefore a significant risk under this option that funds would be diverted from other areas such as Stone to be used to meet Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s current deficits and possibly even the sale of assets in Stone and other areas to support further spending in the future.”

Councillor Rob Kenney spoke in favour at Tuesday’s meeting of the proposal for North Staffordshire and South Staffordshire councils which would see Stone forming part of the southern authority area. He said: “With this proposal we would remain with the borough of Stafford, not diced in two and pushed into the north.”

Concerns were raised about the future impact of the new council system on both residents and elected members however. Councillor Jill Hood said: “We often talk about finances and benefits – to me it’s absolutely essential that councillors don’t lose local connection.

“Over the years we have built up a rapport. People are worried, they don’t understand it. They want to know they can pick up the phone and ring up their local councillor. Our part in Stone will be even more important.”

Councillor Ian Fordham said: “The potential size of wards in some of these areas could be far too big for people to manage. That’s what threatens their relationship with residents.”