Deep dive into Stoke-on-Trent’s unitary proposals

One ‘super council’ in North Staffordshire, another covering the south of the county, and a new elected mayor wielding devolved powers – this could be the future of local government in Staffordshire, according to a new report. The government announced in December that it would be carrying out the biggest overhaul of local councils in England since the 1970s, as well as bringing devolution to every part of the country.

Two-tier local government would be replaced with a single layer of unitary authorities, which the government says would lead to more effective and efficient local services. And combined authorities, with devolved powers in areas such as transport and economic development, would be set up everywhere.

Existing councils have been invited to come up with their own proposals for reorganisation and devolution – although they will have to meet certain criteria imposed by the government. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has now published its plan for how ‘unitarisation’ can be achieved through the creation of a single council covering Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle and the Staffordshire Moorlands.

The city council’s report, which will be discussed by cabinet members next week, says that these proposals will satisfy the government’s requirements while also saving local taxpayers money and supporting economic growth. And the city council is now also supporting the idea of an elected ‘metro mayor’, as a way of bringing more devolved powers to the area – an idea which was previously opposed by all authorities in Staffordshire.

Here is a run-down on what the city council is proposing.

A North Staffordshire council

At the moment, Stoke-on-Trent City Council is the only unitary authority in Staffordshire, with local services in the rest of the county being split between Staffordshire County Council and the eight district and borough councils. The city council’s preferred solution would effectively see the existing unitary authority expand to take in Newcastle and the Moorlands, leaving the rest of Staffordshire free to form a separate unitary.

Newcastle Borough Council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and the city council would all be absorbed into the unitary, which would also take on powers currently wielded by the county council. Importantly, the North Staffordshire council would cover a population of around 480,000 – the government has said that the new unitaries should aim for a minimum population of 500,000.

A key part of the city council’s argument is that North Staffordshire already forms a coherent socio-economic whole, with people travelling across the area’s council boundaries for employment, education, shopping and leisure every single day.

The report states: “Today, the urban landscape of [Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle] is so entangled that an aerial view shows a terrain absent of any inner urban boundaries. Visitors to Stoke-on-Trent by motorway and primary roads are mostly compelled to travel through Newcastle’s territory to reach city destinations. Newcastle town centre is less than four miles from the city centre, identical to the distance separating Tunstall and Longton by road. In addition to the territorial mix, the districts’ communities have been bound by employment, commerce, culture and recreational pursuits for generations.”

The report says that a single unitary authority would be able to maximise North Staffordshire’s economic strength, with a ‘vastly improved’ inward investment offer compared to the existing councils. But it argues that North Staffordshire’s existing ‘polycentric’ landscape could be preserved under a unitary, with town and parish councils still playing a key role, and the continuation of traditions such as ceremonial mayors.

Council chiefs believe that a North Staffordshire unitary could also mean better, more efficient local government. Stoke-on-Trent currently suffers from a low council tax base, with 93 per cent of properties in the city in bands A to C, which makes it difficult for the city council to raise enough funds to pay for its services.

According to the report, including higher band taxpayers in Newcastle and the Moorlands would help ‘re-balance the financial base’, making the new council ‘stronger and more resilient’ and reducing the inequality between Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. But this may be seen as less of an improvement for residents outside Stoke-on-Trent.

The report says that the larger council would also achieve economies or scale and save money on senior management. The council estimates that the North Staffordshire unitary would have a net budget of just over £500 million, with ‘significantly less reliance’ on government grants.

The rest of Staffordshire

The report says that while the city council supports the idea of a North Staffordshire council, it can be ‘relatively agnostic’ with respect to the rest of the county. It suggests there is ‘considerable support’ for a matching unitary in the south of Staffordshire – which would presumably include Stafford, East Staffordshire, South Staffordshire, Tamworth, Cannock Chase and Lichfield.

But the report says that a North Staffordshire unitary which also includes some or all of Stafford and/or East Staffordshire is an option which ‘merits consideration’.

Various other options have been ruled out by the city council – a Staffordshire-wide unitary, including Stoke-on-Trent, with a population of 1.1 million, would ‘simply be too large’. The report says Staffordshire as a whole ‘is not a functional economic area’.

And retaining the existing Stoke-on-Trent City Council alongside a separate Staffordshire unitary – similar to a recent reorganisation in North Yorkshire – would fail to meet the government’s requirements, and ‘ would merely exacerbate the current inequality between county and city’.

Devolution and an elected mayor

In its English Devolution White Paper, the government stated that it wanted combined strategic authorities, with or without mayors, to cover all of England – at the moment just 60 per cent of the country is covered by a devolution deal. Strategic authorities will cover two or more of the new unitaries, and councils have been told to consider this as they come up with their proposals for reorganisation.

The government says that while combined authorities with elected mayors will not be mandatory at this point, they will receive far more devolved powers than those without mayors. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has now, for the first time, expressed its support for a mayoral strategic authority, saying this will ‘maximise the extent of devolved powers and resources from government’.

The idea of elected mayors has been politically toxic in Stoke-on-Trent since the city council’s short-lived experiment with the concept came to an ignominious end in 2009 – although the proposed ‘metro mayor’ will be a completely different position. The council’s report says that ‘much more work’ will have to be carried out on the structure and geography of any mayoral strategic authority, but it includes four potential options, all of which assume the North Staffordshire council will happen:

Staffordshire County Strategic Authority. This would be able to build on existing relationships and structures but its 1.1 million population would fall short of the 1.5 million required by the government, and so would need a special exemption. The other three options would meet the 1.5 million threshold.

Cheshire and North Staffordshire Strategic Authority. According to the report, this option would ‘maximise the economic flows’ towards Greater Manchester and Merseyside. But the three Cheshire unitaries are already set to form a mayoral strategic authority, and admitting North Staffordshire at a later date would cause ‘considerable complications’.

North Midlands Strategic Authority. This would see North Staffordshire join forces with Derbyshire, Derby, Nottinghamshire and Nottingham in an expansion of the existing mayoralty. The report says this option could exploit the ‘full potential’ of the A500/A50 economic corridor.

Staffordshire, Shropshire and Telford Strategic Authority. According to the report, this option ‘makes much less economic sense’, but may have to be considered as a way of ensuring no area is left without a strategic authority – another of the government’s requirements.

What happens now?

The Staffordshire councils will need to submit interim proposals for reorganisation by March 21, with the final proposals due by November. The government has told the councils that they should make ‘every effort’ to agree a single set of proposals, although it accepts that this may not be possible in some cases. The interim proposal due next month can include various options.

City council leaders say that while their report sets out Stoke-on-Trent’s position, they are keen to work with the other Staffordshire authorities. Newcastle Borough Council has already expressed its strong opposition to the city council’s plan for a North Staffordshire unitary authority, with borough leader Simon Tagg describing it as a ‘takeover bid’ by Stoke-on-Trent.

But the borough council has yet to produce any reorganisation proposals of its own – the council passed a motion opposing unitarisation at a recent meeting.

Elected members at Staffordshire County Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council are due to discuss their own proposals in meetings early next month.

A meeting of Staffordshire Leaders Board – made up of the leaders of the county’s 10 councils – is scheduled to take place on March 6. Prior to the government’s white paper, the leaders board submitted its own devolution proposals for Staffordshire, which did not involve an elected mayor or local government reorganisation.