COUNCILLORS in Wychavon are set to vote on their preferred option for local government reorganisation tonight (Wednesday, September 3).
At an extraordinary meeting later today (6.15pm), Wychavon District Council will vote on whether they feel the county should be controlled by one authority or two, in the form of a north and south division.
Under Government plans for Local Government Reorganisation, Worcestershire County Council and the six district, borough, and city councils will be abolished on April 1, 2028.
They will be replaced by either one single council for Worcestershire running all services, or two councils – one for the North and one for the South – with each authority responsible for all services for its part of the county.
The councils in Bromsgrove, Redditch, Worcester, and Malvern will also be meeting this week to make their own choices from the two available options. The different council’s decisions will inform Worcestershire County Council’s final submission of plans to central Government.
Once the Government has approved the model for reorganising councils in Worcestershire, elections will be held in May 2027 for a ‘shadow’ authority or authorities, which will guide the setting up of the new council structure.
The new unitary authority or authorities will then take over local services in April 2028. Earlier this year, in March, councillors voted to keep their options open when meeting to deliberate their thoughts.
Reservations about making the firm decision came from a lack of data and understanding on the benefits or risks of the alternative options for Worcestershire’s new unitary authority.
Councils were issued with a independent report carried out by Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) analysing the costs and benefits of each option on the evening before the meeting.
Although the report weighed up different options for the transition, many councillors felt it contained bias and focuses on the county council’s preferred option for one Worcestershire council.
The report concluded a north and south division would cost £16.9 m and present net annual savings of £4.3 m whereas an all encompassing county council would cost £11.9 m and save £20.6 m annually.
Due to these figures, a one Worcestershire council would break even within a year while a north and south division would only recoup its expenses within 11 years.
In June this year, Bromsgrove District, Malvern Hills District, Redditch Borough, Worcester City, Wychavon and Wyre Forest District Councils, gathered feedback from residents to help councillors with their decision.
The Shape Worcestershire public engagement exercise ran for four weeks and the results of which were considered by specialists Mutual Ventures as part of their full appraisal.
Mutual ventures were engaged by the five councils to provide an objective and evidence-based appraisal of the different options.
Visit www.shapeworcestershire.org/ for more information.
