Nine new unitaries announced

It appears the uncertainty has finally come to an end.

A total of 3.5 million people will see the end of two-tier governance in their area in the biggest shake-up of council boundaries since the mid-1990s.

When then local government minister David Miliband announced in LGC two years’ ago that he was contemplating redrawing council boundaries, most people immediately realised what he had unleashed.

Local relationships collapsed as districts and counties fought for survival. But restructuring enthusiasts insisted the efficiency gains resulting from reorganisation would make the saga worthwhile.

The battle has had many subplots. Districts such as Ipswich, Norwich and Oxford thought they were being offered an opportunity to break free from oppressive counties whose rural focus held back their economic development and local identity.

Counties such as Northumberland, Somerset and Cornwall felt they had a chance to provide more efficient local leadership – although their opponents said they were too big to truly represent local needs.

And then the Treasury got involved, making it clear that it would seek to restrict the number of councils allowed to proceed. The financial risk involved was making then chancellor Gordon Brown uneasy and the Department for Communities & Local Government was under pressure to scale back its original aspirations.

The final announcement constitutes a compromise between the views expressed by the county and district lobbies and the Treasury.

The hotchpotch of new boundaries ensuing marks no clear victory for the lobbies that backed either larger or smaller councils. While the figure of nine is slightly higher than the Treasury would have preferred, it certainly constitutes a less dramatic overhaul of boundaries than Mr Miliband envisaged.

One thing is certain. All councils, whether directly affected by today’s announcement or not, face continuing pressure to improve efficiency. Radical new working arrangements are required across the board – and the unitary council debate will not disappear in remaining two-tier areas. So perhaps the uncertainty has not entirely come to an end, after all.

LGA conference - the unitary question

Gossip is rife at this year's LGA conference on what decisions if any will be made on which unitary councils will get the go-ahead in the next few weeks. The date being bandied around by some is July 25 for a final decision, and some at conference who have unitary bids in are near-convinced they will be given the green light.

It's hard to see how anyone can be be certain as to what new communities secretary Hazel Blears has in mind, however. It seems unlikely that she has had time as yet to really take on board what unitary councils could mean, especially in the light of recent announcements about the constitution and particularly the regions. The situation may not be helped by the fact local government also has a new local government minister John Healey who will probably also have his own views. The new regional ministers might also want to feed in.

Could this all see a decision put off about unitary councils, and July's 'annoucement' be one of delay? Or will Brown push on to make his mark in his first 100 days, citing efficiency as his main argument for change?

The complexity of what is happening could also be added to today, as the Lib Dems have said that during the committee stage of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill today Lib Dem peer Lord Greaves will propose an amendment which will set up a 'devolution commission' to investigate and report on the devolution of powers to local authorities in England.

As Lord Greaves said in a release put out yesterday: "Gordon Brown’s talk of a new concordat between central and local government is just that – talk. There should be a clear commitment to serious and sustained transfer of powers to a local level along with a bonfire of the detailed controls, targets and regulations which are strangling local democracy. I challenge the government to make this commitment. It’s time for them to let go on a massive scale. Unless they do so all the talk of a new localism is just hot air.”