Oral Answers to Questions

James Gray Excerpts

Monday 12th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

It is indeed an excellent report, but I remind the right hon. Gentleman that the former permanent secretary to the Department, as its accounting officer, washed his hands of the unitary restructuring in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk, demanding that Labour Ministers direct him to continue. He warned that it would

“impact adversely on the financial position of the public sector”.

He said:

“the evidence for such gains is mixed and representations that you have received provide no evidence to quantify such benefits”.

He also said:

“There is every likelihood of such judicial review proceedings being commenced.”

The system was a complete Horlicks, and that is why we abolished it.

[Mr James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend is right: the diversity of local government in England is very important, and there is no “one size fits all” solution. Does he accept, however, that it was the last Conservative Government who introduced unitary authorities in the first place, and that Wiltshire has been praised by my noble Friend Lord Heseltine for getting rid of five dual-tier district authorities and replacing them with one, thereby saving an enormous amount of money, keeping the council tax frozen, and getting rid of large layers of bureaucracy in the process?

[Mr Pickles]

I am glad to hear that my hon. Friend is at one with his local council. Of course I am not opposed to unitary authorities; what I am opposed to is the imposition on local authorities, from the centre, of costly reorganisations I am urging authorities, particularly small district authorities, to start to work together, to merge not just back-office but front-office functions, and to provide a much better deal for their people.