By Ian Mean
Business West Gloucestershire director
Gloucestershire County Council are determined to face something of a local government revolution head-on after an initial study of the Government’s White Paper on Devolution.
This came over loud and clear when I talked to the leader of the County Council, Councillor Stephen Davies after the voluminous document was issued by Whitehall.
He told me: “The government is obviously serious about its intention to reform local government, and it appears they have the determination to drive this through.
“We are going to embrace this and not sit back and do nothing .We will move forward and take the government’s intentions at face value.
“We need to move faster rather than slower-uncertainty is the trap we don’t want to fall into.”
As a result of the White Paper, it could be that the May County Council elections might well be postponed—that possibility is mentioned in the White Paper.
For Gloucestershire, more than most counties, the White Paper is revolutionary for local government.
It could well mean that there is an elected Mayor and a number of unitary authorities replacing the six district councils which now operate in Gloucestershire.
The County Council will need to combine with another county authority like Worcester, and perhaps Hereford, to get the right number of people—just over a million-that is needed to qualify for the new devolution process.
