Stroud District Green Party has branded the government’s flagship local government reorganisation plans a “half-baked and bungled waste of taxpayers’ money” after new analysis revealed the changes would not save money as originally claimed.
The government had relied on a 2020 County Council Network (CCN) report which suggested reorganisation could save £2.9bn over five years. But the CCN has since revised its findings, warning that the restructuring could make no savings – and in some cases even increase costs. The government has admitted it carried out no independent analysis of the potential impact.
The reforms would abolish district councils, including Stroud District Council, with powers transferred to larger unitary authorities or regional mayors. The Labour government had insisted the changes would deliver efficiency and savings, but the latest CCN assessment says smaller areas are better served by retaining the current two-tier system.
Stroud Greens, who have opposed the changes since they were first proposed, argue the reforms will centralise decision-making, weaken local representation, and damage trust in politics. In March, the party hosted a public meeting with a cross-party panel to discuss the impact of the plans.
Adrian Oldman, coordinator of Stroud District Green Party, said: “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at the news that this badly thought-through scheme is starting to unravel. Enormous amounts of everyone’s time have been taken up with working out a way to make the best of this undemocratic, half-baked project that has been imposed on councils without consultation or warning.
“The Greens always considered it to be a bad idea: removing a lower tier of local government and pushing decision-making up a tier, under the guise of ‘devolution’. The only faint light at the end of the tunnel was the promised cost savings. Now we know even that isn’t expected, taxpayers will be left footing the bill while grass-roots democracy is dismantled.”
Cllr Oldman urged residents to write to Labour MP Simon Opher to press the government to halt the reorganisation plans.
