Councillor Andy Swain’s reply published 18 July.
I read with interest the letter on Saturday 7th July from Linda Piggott-Vijeh Somerset County and South Somerset District Conservative Councilor. The letter makes some interesting points but omits some significant ones.
I wonder why anyone is recommending a massive upheaval of our local government just now. The country is in the grip of a pandemic, some say the worst crisis since the world wars. Would a former prime minister have said “We will fight them on the beaches, and we are going to have a radical shake up of local government.”? Local councils, forced to commercialise by funding cuts, have lost eye watering sums of money many times larger than reserves. It is still unclear how they will survive that and recover. Whatever the pros and cons in the long term, a reorganisation as a unitary is going to be hugely expensive and massively disruptive in the short term. The last thing our beleaguered public services need right now is massive disruption.
I’m concerned by the dismissal of “work that was commissioned concluded that a single council for Somerset is the wrong solution”, adding “how much taxpayers money was spent on the work undertaken”. This is implying that the District council is wasting public money, but it sounds like they are dutifully finding out if the proposals will be a benefit before committing far larger sums of public money to what may be unnecessary and harmful. In fact the findings say it is harmful, so well done district councils for performing that scrutiny, this is why we need opposition. I am not surprised she finds “little hard evidence” of “anything from the districts” when she dismisses issues like “quality of life” and “positive change” as “buzz words”. For some of us those things are important and affect the decisions we make.
If this is such a bad idea, why are County Councils so keen? We must indeed “tease out any hidden agendas”. Ignoring party politics might be comfortable but it is naïve. In her, and my areas, Somerset and Devon County Councils both have Conservative Majorities. South Somerset and Teignbridge District Councils both have Lib Dem majorities. Our first Past the post elections favour the Conservative party in larger elections often delivering majorities of seats far in excess of any majority in vote, and dividing and ignoring opposition votes. Could this be why Conservative County Councilors favour larger unitary councils? An opportunity to hollow out the opposition and further reduce the scrutiny and limited representation that opponents have? A “protectionist element” to use her words.
We have much more immediate problems. The Covid emergency is real, and pressing and ongoing. It has been mishandled by the current national government on a massive scale, we have seen disdain for genuine expertise and showboating at the expense of the public good. A sneering disregard for its own rules by a senior adviser who is apparently above the law. On this point I agree “things must change”. I also agree that “central government funding for local authorities has declined significantly, whilst demand for services has increased” but that is a policy of the current government, to demand more and pay less, cutting taxes to the bone and beyond. To hollow out essential services, cutting costs, resilience and safety nets until even professionals turned to food banks, and when a crisis arrives, the resilience has already gone. To say “not helped by the reluctance of all parties to increase taxes” is ignoring a world of different party policies for a system of taxation that is fair, affordable and makes public services fit for purpose and secure. The Liberal Democrats have for years had a policy of a penny on income tax to secure the NHS.
On top of that, we face the end of the transition period which is now inevitable in January, because the national government deliberately ignored the deadline to request an extension despite the world wide lockdowns. They were elected on slogans like “Oven Ready Brexit” and similar ignorant platitudes. The majority in the country are sick and tired of the whole sorry business and want it over but sadly the reality is that “Project Fear” will become “Project Reality” in January because our government has chosen no deal, or a botch job.
If the current government understands anything about the future they have secured for us, they will be absolutely desperate for distractions and scapegoats. A major reorganisation of local government offers opportunities to distract from the mishandling of Covid and the reality of Brexit, while gerrymandering local politics and strengthening the stranglehold on our democracy. Yes, “things must change” but nationally, not locally.
Andy Swain
Teignbridge District Councillor