Ministers didn’t do cost review of English council mergers

The BBC has learned that the British government did not perform its own analysis of the cost of the largest reorganization of the Councils in England.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, 21 areas of 21 areas in 21 areas by combining single officials “a significant amount of money” can be saved, he said.

The Rayner Department based on a 2020 reports, which were built by the Ministry of Local Government, cost estimates by the District Council Network (CCN) and said that savings of £ 2.9 billion could be saved for five years.

However, CCN has revised its analysis since then and now says that the restructuring cannot make any savings and actually cost money in some scenarios.

CCN President Tim Oliver said that the restructuring of the local government could unlock billions of productivity savings to re -deposit in the pre -line services, if the restructuring of the local government was “on the right scale.”

Oliver added that the CCN supports the government’s reforms, but we are concerned about the potential reconstruction costs that proposals are trying to change with multiple small unitary councils. “

The councils in the restructuring offer plans to create new local authorities in their regions.

Some Councils proposed to establish more than one smaller unit authority in their regions.

For example, in ESSEX, the district council proposed three new units of authority in the region.

The government will decide which offers will come to the fore and will want to inform most of the Councils next year.

A government spokesman insisted that the restructuring would “improve the services and save the money of taxpayers”.

Under the first guidance, Local Government Minister Jim McMahon said that the councils should try to reach the entire region, which is concerned with the establishment of a single layer of local government. “

McMahon said these new Councils should aim to cover a population of 500,000 or more.

However, since then, the Minister has announced the guidance to the councils about the size of 500,000 or more.

Uz We understand that there should be flexibility, the Minister said.

As one of the main benefits of local government restructuring, the ministers explained the potential to save money.

Speaking to the MPs in June, Rayner said, “The reorganization of the local government will lead to better results for the residents and save a significant amount of money that can re -invest in public services and improve accountability.”

However, the department insisted that the BBC’s request for freedom of information insisted that it was not necessary to assign the in -house analysis of the cost of restructuring at the expense of the public.

The government’s savings estimates were based on the data produced by PWC, an accounting company, and Analysis by CCNA group of lobbying inter -party.

A PWC report in 2020 predicted a potential savings of £ 2.9 billion for five years if single officials were replaced by all councils in the two -layer region.

But Updated analysis this yearCCN said that the restructuring could cost 850 million pounds for five years and 58 new councils based on a population of at least 300,000 can provide no savings if they were created in 21 two -layer areas.

“There will be no long -term productivity savings in this scenario, ie it will be more efficient to protect the existing two -layer system in the UK.” He said.

Oliver showed that the analysis of CCN will “divide the district areas into unitary councils with a small population, will create hundreds of millions of new sustainable costs for local taxpayers”.

The Assembly member said that the government should ensure that the new councils formed are the right size to achieve productivity, increase capacity and withdraw financial shocks.

Oliver, “This is not done, already under pressure care services and many districts and regional officials can see that the funds can be more difficult at a time.” He said.

Regional Councils Network (DCN) said that the restructuring could give bad results, given the financing pressures faced by the local government.

“It is surprising that the government has not made an independent analysis before the government has started the largest reorganization of the council for 50 years,” Sam Chapman-Allen, head of the Regional Council Network. He said.

“In order to justify the councils of this size, there is no independent, up -to -date evidence, and many great councils created before, can be applied to mega councils with half a million or more population.”

DCN said it is not too late for the government to analyze the optimal size of the councils to maximize potential savings.

Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Councils throughout the country said that bringing the services together under a single roof means that the residents get the support of merger when they need the most, and they know exactly who is responsible for providing the services of the clearer structures.

“Councils will also improve their own suggestions on how the reorganization works best in the regions of the reorganization, since the Councils also corrected the foundations of the local government through our change plan.”