By Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay
The government has announced the biggest shake-up in local councils for half a century – but Kent’s future direction is far from clear.
The English Devolution White Paper launched this afternoon {December 16} outlines new structures which could see a new mayor for the county and the abolition of all 12 borough and district councils.
These could be replaced by a small number of much larger unitary authorities reporting to the mayor.
The document does not mention any county or region by name but a graphic shows the loss of second-tier councils.
Leaders such as Medway Council’s Vince Maple and Kent County Council’s Roger Gough, as well as those from the dozen second-tier authorities, will be invited to be part of a wide-ranging consultation.
They will make submissions to the government in January detailing how they see the best way to proceed.
The local government minister Jim McMahon told the House of Commons county councils should assume next May’s elections are to take place, unless they state a desire to press ahead with immediate reforms.
There is no time-frame set in the document, but a number of areas will join the “devolution priority programme” which could have elected mayors in place by May 2026.
White Paper launch
It was launched in Leeds today by Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, but some of the White Paper was leaked in advance.
Mrs Rayner said the new system will allow for multi-year funding settlements – which councils have been calling for – and less interference from Whitehall.
The government argues that devolution is the “key way” towards economic growth, puts politics “back in the service of working people” and more money in their pockets.
“It will re-light the fire in our great regions,” said Mrs Rayner.
In a joint statement the leaders of Kent County Council, Medway Council, and the district and borough councils of Kent said: “We will be carefully considering the detail in the government’s plans.
“All 14 principal councils in Kent have made it clear to the Deputy Prime Minister that we want to work closely together in partnership, and with the government, to shape an innovative and comprehensive devolution deal for Kent and Medway that works for our local communities.
“Our priority now will be to ensure the framework and additional powers work in the best interests of residents and businesses across Kent and Medway, with a focus on improving economic, environmental, and social prosperity whilst respecting the needs and desires of local people.
“We will be working collaboratively with our partners across the public sector to shape the plans and proposals to ensure we continue to provide high-quality and greatly valued services for our residents, respecting the history and communities of Kent residents.”
‘Turning point’
Mrs Rayner said: “Our English Devolution White Paper will be a turning point when we finally see communities, people and places across England begin to take back control over the things that matter to them.
“When our proud towns and cities are once again given the powers they need to drive growth and raise living standards as part of our Plan for Change.
“It’s a plan for putting more money in people’s pockets, putting politics back in the service of working people and a plan for stability, investment and reform, not chaos, austerity and decline, that will deliver a decade of national renewal.
“Devolution will no longer be agreed at the whim of a minister in Whitehall, but embedded in the fabric of the country, becoming the default position of government.”
At a meeting last week Thanet council leader Rick Everitt said: “It is well known that I am a supporter of the unitary model for East Kent and have been since I was first elected to this council in 2011.
“My understanding is that the White Paper will not set out an immediate plan for reorganisation at district level, but unless that happens in due course it risks leaving devolution half done. It risks the establishment of a strategic combined authority within which East Kent is reliant on Kent County Council for a voice.
“We know from the series of issues that we currently have in Thanet, from Millmead Centre to Pie Factory to Bradstow School, that we cannot rely on KCC. Neither, as a district council, can we step in to replace them.
“I have been involved in lengthy discussions with other leaders from across Kent, but particularly East Kent, and I think it is fair to say that any differences of opinion have not been rooted on party advantage, but on a desire to reach the right outcome for our area.
“Change is unsettling, however, not just for councillors but for officers. But whatever the future holds, local services will still need to be provided. It is less important which council provides them than that they are done well and that public money is used efficiently.
“I believe Thanet District Council is delivering for residents, albeit in what has been since 2010 a difficult funding environment, but the district is under increasing pressure from cuts by KCC over which it is hard to see local people are able to exert much influence.
“No matter how often and how loudly we tell people that KCC swallows four-fifths of council tax or that its annual percentage increase is larger than Thanet’s, we often get the blame.
“A system whereby the collection authority takes and spends more of the money is surely desirable, as is one where more decisions about East Kent are taken in East Kent, and not in Maidstone by people elected in Dartford and Sevenoaks.
“There are also large areas of confusion about which council does what, especially around highways, which is not good for democracy.
“Reorganisation is a live issue that will be aired again over the coming months, none of which means that this council can take its eye off the ball. We remain responsible for overseeing the major regeneration projects in Margate and Ramsgate, and 2025 will be a critical year in their delivery, alongside so many other initiatives.”
Government mission
The new system will help to deliver on the government’s mission to grow the economy and deliver 1.5 million new homes across the country.
There will be plans for the new powers for mayors across strategic planning – giving them the ability to shape infrastructure and development projects across areas, housing, transport and skills.
Mrs Rayner said more powers would be pushed out of Westminster and into the “hands of people with skin in the game, who know their areas best”.
The White Paper promises that priorities are set locally and policies tailored to “needs and circumstances”.
The paper says there can be “a statutory role for mayors in governing, managing, planning, and developing the rail network”.
It aims to provide “easier commutes through a single transport system, with pay-as-you-go fares and joined-up services to access more opportunities faster”.
Mayors will have greater powers in planning development to speed up the delivery of new housing.
The document says skills and employment would be more relevant to local jobs; new houses matched with fresh infrastructure and that public services should communicate and support people’s needs.
Although the new “strategic authorities” can be structured not to have a mayor, the White Paper says a mayoral system remains “our ambition”.
Depending on which kind of authority Kent eventually becomes, the function of the Police and Crime Commissioner may fall under the umbrella of the mayor’s office.
This is part of the E.U. anti-nation state agenda.
The E.U. Commission has divided all its nation states into European Regions. In this country there are already 13 Government Regions. During the Blair era, the voters of the North East were given a referendum vote on having Regional Assembly. Wisely and, much to Brown & Blair’s chagrin, they declined.
This is just Rejoiner Labour laying the foundations of the U.K. in the E.U. by the back door.
What hysterical nonsense.
It’s got nothing to do with the EU (though I note in passing that a majority of voters, including those who voted for Brexit, now want us back with Europe) and everything to do with too many layers of government.
Harry Webb- leaving the EU wasn’t a good idea at all.
Harry you need help. Speak to your GP to have your meds reviewed.
I can’t see any benefit to us having a District Council at all. Endless explanations as to who does what, between RTC, TDC and KCC. Meanwhile, Ramsgate is filthy, drug dealers act with impunity and KCC is almost bust.
TDC seems to operate in the 1970s, old fashioned, bureaucratic and unhelpful. Assets left crumbling and an obsession with aviation.
The only fly in the ointment is the prospect of Craig coming back.
That would be dreadful.
Steve- Ramsgate isn’t filthy.
It is. My street, close to the centre and in heritage action zone hasn’t been swept once in 10 years, gutters blocked,fly tipping and drug dealing are regular occurrences and dog foul is routinely left on pavement.
My street is like many in Ramsgate. It is the least clean place I’ve lived.
Where are the street cleaning machines? All I see is the occasional manual sweeper trolley in the town,like something from the 1940s.
And how will any change to the structure of local government change drug dealing, fly tipping and dog fouling?
Fewer layers of bureaucracy for starters. Cleansing is TDC but street sweeping is RTC and drains are KCC. For example. There is no joined up thinking and frankly, I have no faith in TDC given the eyewatering exit payments to staff in recent years and endless merry go rounds of blame throwing administrations obsessed with either aviation or ferries. Or both. If you can demonstrate the positive impact of TDC please go ahead.
A request a yearly sweep of my street around this time of year from the council. I sometimes get one too! Thanet is the dirtiest place I’ve ever been to: in Douglas on the Isle of Man they hose down bus shelters daily, can you imagine it even being done once here?
Steve – The area in Ramsgate where I live isn’t like yours, though it’s only a few minutes’ walk from the town centre. There is some litter here and there but not much. There are some dog-owners who don’t clear up their dog’s faeces, but not many. I haven’t seen anybody dealing drugs,but today I noticed a street cleaner – and he was not the first one I’ve ever seen here.
There are blocked drains, but they are, as you say, KCC’s responsiblities.
Chaos initiated by central government again, large payoffs for all the council workers, and Dover, Thanet, and Canterbury councils being forced to to work together, when they couldn’t agree to work together because there were to many chiefs and not enough other people 15 years ago. Labour are really going to screw us all over.
Excellent idea.
No John,it won’t. A Unitary council will still need workers, but it means that services like waste where collection and disposal are done by two councils unnecessarily. Some posts may be deleted because there will be some duplication, but overall there will be a saving.
I presume it was you trying to get some advantage from the vandalism at Cliffsend. As for chaos, I think the last 14 years was chaos enough for anyone.Would you like me list some of it?
I think less said soonest mended from you would be best.
It’s early days and we don’t know what devolution will mean, so perhaps we should wait and see.
I know what I want to see and that is an end to KCC and TDC, and elections by PR with more participation.
George – the other John is far closer to the truth than you.
What is the obsession with saving money ?
We already have the scenario of many services being shared between Thanet, Canterbury and Dover ”to save money”. This has resulted in £10m council tax being uncollected in Thanet. How has that saved money ?
Why, for instance, have a good number of services been devolved back to RTC from TDC if it was more efficient for those services to be administered centrally by TDC – as was the reasoning behind the last major local government reorganisation ?
Could we be heading for a Federal State George? Perhaps if Britain was broken up into federal states like in Germany, and elections were held using an understandable PR electoral system, there would be more accountability.
Long overdue. The current split of services between different tiers of local government makes no sense and is confusing for the public. Added to that the constant cost shunting between different tiers means the residents often pay twice for the same service.
A regional East Kent Unitary Council will not only save money but, more importantly will be more accountable to the people it represents.
Thanetian Blind – Really? Unitary Council being more accountable to the people it represents! Best you speak with Medway voters.
I am not obsessed by money but others are, especially council tax payers.There is also the matter of silo management,where councils fail to cooperate on flytipping for example.
TDC failed to devolve at every opportunity, which is why the waterfall in Ramsgate does not work.
The growth in Town and Parish councils gives the lie to the district council line of reforming local government is some how removing local decision making. Districts hang on to rundown assets like limpets and make life difficult for their smaller brethren as a default option.
All that is happening is to do what should have been done 50 years ago, but wasn’t thanks to lobbying from a particular section of society.
Do People Dem Collective deserve free rent and funding?
Preferred the Urban Cookie Collective.
The Tooting Popular Front were more amusing.
Just remember the farce that resulted from the combining of 4 local councils social housing under East Kent Housing and the abject failure it became rife with cosy arrangements and a distinct lack of any meaningful competitive tendering. What makes anyone think that combining wholesale will do any better, it’ll still rely on local managers who’ll suddenly be gifted the convenience of distant oversight.
The only thing that’ll start to put the nation right os less people living off the work of others and as a result leaving the state with more to spend on services and infrastructure, whilst we’ve a significantly sized minority doing as they will on the back of benefits, drug, dealing and shoplifting ( effectively aided and abetted by a state that does little to curtail any of them) we’ll be in ever accelerating decline and ever higher taxes and cost of living.
Splitting the nation up so that when things go wrong the westminster incumbents can say not our fault gov, have a word with your unitary authority is just lazy government looking to avoid responsibility.
I recently contacted all the Labour, and Green District councillors asking for information, and not one of them replied!
Dear Dumpton;
Pretty sure you didn’t email me; happy to be corrected. 🙂
Sorry Helen, will get back to you shortly. I have had one Green Councillor contact me since, which we will follow up in the new year!
Best option would be for an East Kent Unitary Authority with more funding and powers to the Town and Parish councils. To be submerged into an all-Kent authority would be undemocratic
My thoughts entirely, but the Towns and Parishes need reform.Less Dibley and more active.
The devolution bus went some time ago(one of the few that still run) once Ireland was split 100 years ago.Devolving Scotland and Wales was a matter of time and so it follows for the regions of England.
We cannot put the genie back into the bottle and return to the supposed golden age of the past, no matter how some might wish it.
Its not lazy government, the lazy thing would be to continue as we are, managing decline as some in the civil service are won’t to do
Bumbling along,so as not to offend certain social groups leads only to failure,and I think we are at that tipping point now.Either we change our ways or face making unpleasant choices a few years down the road from now.
What’s your thoughts on the lack of compensation for the WASPI women? C’mon, you accuse me of apparently hating women, do speak up.
Just a way to strip power away from communities & favour some areas over others. Just like they are trying to delaying local elections in May 2025 under this guise of devolution, because they know we are going to vote them out in return for stealing our votes with lies in July. Starmer is a spineless dictator.
I think you are mixing metaphors.Dictators are never “spineless”, their victims are left “spineless”, thinking of Assad.
I also think comparing Starmer with Stalin,Assad or dare I say it Mr H, is utterly repellent.
With politicians its what they don’t say during electioneering is what’s important, not some vague allegation about lying. All politicians are economical with the truth, and some more than others.So, you don’t like Labour’s or Starmer’s cut of their jib, well that’s your prerogative.
Where is your evidence for putting off the 2025 elections? If they did what would we lose? More of the same as we had in the last 138 years, or are you expecting Reform to win? If they did win, what would they do? We know what they are against, but not what they propose instead.
As for some communities being favoured over others, well in the last 50 years rural areas have had the whip hand over urban areas with districts, as was their purpose.Go and look at many rural communities and see what development they received since 1974, I think you will find many have received nothing or very little up to a few years ago.Why do you think that places like Rodersham are now up in arms after decades of isolation, but now are facing a massive new town on their back door. Deprived places like Ramsgate and Margate have been left to dangle in the wind and are up to capacity in terms of development.
Its fine that you disagree withnthe current govt, but the criticism has to be based on fact not conspiracy theories.
I think what’s happening now in Ramsgate is due to a failure of long term, strategic thinking, for the last 30 years.
The local plan is an inept disaster. Only existing due to the government forcing the issue on TDC and of course the aviation meddling of the Tories and TICs.
I can neither see. Nor feel, any discernible benefit to Ramsgate of having TDC. What I observe is a lack of competence in some parties. Over years. At officer and councillor level. Clearly not everyone, but many. Look at the legacy of Homer and Waites for example. Or endless elected members on a one trick pony of port or airplanes.
I see no vision. No effective use of tech. No modern HR. All I see is endless boundary wars of who does what.