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Ref: 197/07 21 May 2007
Split Cheshire Spells “Financial Disaster”- Says County Finance Chief
Partitioning Cheshire into two Unitary Councils would be a financial disaster the county’s council 260,000 taxpayers were told today (Monday).
Cheshire’s Finance Chief Gretta Cousins revealed details of a damning analysis of the financial case put to Government by some District councils.
“Chester City Council has got its sums wrong -horribly wrong and the government and people of this county need to know it!”, said Councillor Cousins
Three major blunders destroyed claims that a split would produce £20m worth of savings she maintained.
“Far from it. Indeed, we believe such an arrangement would cost £33m to set up and not deliver a penny.”
Close examination of the city council case revealed:-
• The £5m cost of duplicating front line services in two councils had been omitted.
• The city council had ‘pinched’ £6.5m of the county’s Transforming Cheshire savings and included it in their own savings.
• And the city had ‘vastly under-estimated‘ the support and democratic infrastructure which two councils would need.
“Under a partitioned Cheshire our people can look forward to massive disruption, a £33m bill for set up costs and poorer and more expensive services at the end of it. Disaggregation of social care and education alone would cost around £5 million.”
In direct contrast, Cheshire County Council’s submission for one strong and united Cheshire will save taxpayers £21.4m a year….every year and prevent needless disruption to some of the country’s best services.
Labour Group Leader Derek Bateman stressed that Cheshire figures and the assessment of the Chester City submission had been compiled using a nationally recognised model of best practice and the county’s case had been had been independently validated.
Said County Cllr Bateman: “Savings come much quicker in a single unitary. We are looking at something like £84m over the first five years when one-off transitional costs have been taken into account.
“So instead of risking senseless disruption of services and worse, we need to build on the transformational work that Cheshire has already done to create a dynamic authority designed for the 21st century.
“That programme will create additional savings of well over £100m by 2015 but those savings will be lost if the county is split into two meaningless lumps ripe for take over by Manchester and Merseyside.”
Added the Labour leader: “Those who believe that chopping this county in half will do anything other than to reduce its strategic power and influence, are living in cloud cuckoo land.
“In 1974, we lost Stockport and Birkenhead. In 97, it was Halton and Warrington. The present Cheshire punches well above its weight in creating wealth for the region and if fragmented would become vulnerable to our giant neighbours of Manchester and Merseyside.”
Lib Dem Leader Sue Proctor said: “Doing nothing is not a valid option. Simply hoping that this will go away will merely deny us the opportunity of making huge savings on behalf of the tax-payer and the chance to stream-line bureaucracy and avoid confusion.“
Note To Editors: For further information please contact Councillor Cousins on 01928 733823, Councillor Bateman on 0151 355 6575 or Councillor Proctor on 01244 335943.
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