From tomorrow the face of local government in Shropshire will change radically. The county – outside of Telford & Wrekin – will be run by a single, all powerful unitary authority with its headquarters at the Shirehall in Shrewsbury.

Shropshire Council, as it will be known, will be responsible for all services, from emptying rubbish bins to running libraries and schools, checking food premises and maintaining thousands of miles of road.

In effect it will be Shropshire County Council as the “continuing authority” under the unitary switch, but with elections for 74 seats taking place in June.

The unitary’s vision, aims, priorities and values until 2013 have been set out in a huge corporate plan document.

It states: “Our top priorities show how important it is to us that we support the most vulnerable people in our society, that we deliver our services in ways which Shropshire people tell us best meet their needs and that we respect and care for Shropshire’s environment.”

Reduce

There are pledges to give every child and young person “the best opportunities”, improve the health and wellbeing of county residents, help older and vulnerable people to retain their independence, reduce unemployment levels, minimise anti-social behaviour and violent crime and give the public a greater say on how services should be delivered.

The corporate plan says: “At the heart of our priorities is the aim to provide adequate affordable housing and job opportunities to enable people to live and work in Shropshire over the long term.”

All three current political leaders at the Shirehall – Malcolm Pate (Conservative), Peter Phillips (Lib Dem) and Alan Mosley (Labour) – have always fully backed the unitary change over.

Councillor Pate, leader of the county council and chairman of the implementation executive which has been overseeing the switch to unitary status, said: “Tomorrow will see an exciting change to local government in Shropshire, when the old Shropshire County Council changes into the new unitary Shropshire Council.

Sharp

“This change will enable us to keep down council tax, while at the same time introducing new and better services to the people of Shropshire.

“We have achieved this by rationalising services and getting rid of a large amount of unnecessary bureaucracy. The new structure has allowed us to put more people at the sharp end of service delivery.

“One of the aims of our business plan was to bring local government closer to the people and we have achieved this by the introduction of local joint committees, and local access points for our services.”

Councillor Pate says the move to unitary has resulted in £14 million savings and resulted in a zero council tax increase this year. He adds: “The new authority has a vision about working with partners, and other bodies to improve significantly the quality of life for Shropshire people.

“From tomorrow, most people will not see a great difference in the way their services delivered, but over the next few months will see new and improved services.”

According to Councillor Phillips: “Change is only worthwhile if its brings benefits to the residents of Shropshire.

“The prime concern is good services, value for money, being responsive to the public. Administrative changes are in themselves insignificant.”

He says the financial case for unitary is evident but equally there is “clarity of responsibility” as the public will have one councillor to contact with problems.

He claims that a strong single Shropshire can counteract the forces of regional quangos and Whitehall. And the council will have new powers to bring democratic scrutiny to bear upon the quangos and other public bodies “who may be tempted to do things to people rather than for them”.

But Councillor Phillips sounds a note of caution. “All these are real positives. Less clear is local working with our residents. The powers of local committees need to be strengthened.”

A real local voice, with local powers, must be developed. And Liberal Democrats are doubtful that this is being offered.

Finally, Councillor Phillips says the council needs to be a listening and responsive body, and the county’s record has been “decidedly mixed” in this respect.

Listening

He adds: “The unitary business case, as business, is unanswerable.

“The greater challenge is to work with residents, to dismantle bureaucratic approaches, and to win the the confidence of the people of Shropshire.”

Councillor Mosley will not be sorry to see an end to the old council structures. “We do not mourn the end of the county council and the district and boroughs, but celebrate the new Shropshire Council,” he said.

“Already we see significant improvements to services, a greater say for residents on matters affecting their communities, large efficiency savings and zero council tax increases.

“We are proud that our group first proposed a review in 2005 and that the Government provided the legislation and support which made it possible.”

There was, he says, “strong opposition” in parts of the county to the unitary move.

“However, the project has been a unique example of members from all parties joining together on an issue, to bring great advantages throughout the county.

“Indeed, many of the prominent doubters now recognise the crucial gains of reorganisation.

“The transition will be a success if they report ‘no change’ except that they receive better, more responsive services, the council is accountable and their voice is heard more, they identify less waste of resources, duplication of effort, and they pay out proportionately less of their income in council tax.”

He adds: “In a recession people are rightly questioning the condition, efficiency and role of all parts of the public sector.

“Local government in Shropshire is now better placed to respond to these demands.”

By Dave Morris