New Government ditches unitary plans
The new Government has announced that it intends to ditch proposals for Exeter City Council to run the city’s local services as a unitary authority.

Earlier this year the previous Government gave Exeter the go-ahead to become a unitary authority. The proposals affected Exeter alone, with Devon County Council and the county’s district/borough councils remaining unchanged. However, the new Government has announced it will introduce a Bill to reverse the decision on Exeter and it is expected to be ratified before the summer recess.

The news follows a prolonged review of Local Government in Devon which began in December 2007. Initially, at the start of the process, there were proposals for a single unitary council for Devon. South Hams District and West Devon Borough Councils were firmly against this and launched a concerted campaign, urging its residents to become involved in the debate.

Finally, councillors from both authorities, alongside like-minded members from other district councils in Devon, met with Local Government Minister Rosie Winterton MP at Westminster in January to discuss the issue. The meeting came just as the Exeter decision was being made. The councillors delivered a clear message from local residents that the status quo should remain - keeping services local and maintaining local accountability relevant to local people.

Their lobbying efforts paid off and were ultimately successful in influencing the final decision not to implement a Unitary Devon. Ms Winterton herself said after the Exeter announcement:

"Across Devon we listened carefully to the views of interested councils, MPs and other stakeholders and the option of a unitary structure for the whole of Devon did not have sufficient support from key councils.

"Legitimate fears were expressed that a single authority would not be able to cope with the divergent needs across such a large area. As a result the Government had no option but to rule out a unitary authority for the whole of Devon, as it could not succeed without local support.”

After the new Government was elected in early May, new Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said the Government would now be reversing the Exeter decision. He said: "The message is very clear… do not waste the public’s money by spending any more money on this.”