Council leader expresses concern that government review could push Telford and Shropshire merger

The government is to publish a white paper on a potential overhaul for local government in October, but a report from the County Councils Network (CCN) has ignited speculation over what it may recommend.

The main thrust of the CCN report is the merging of district and unitary authorities – something that would not affect either Shropshire or Telford & Wrekin as they are both unitary authorities.

But, the report does speculate that the government may set minimum population sizes for unitary authorities, highlighting a ministerial statement which said councils should be "substantially in excess of 300,000 to 400,000 people".

Such a move could affect both Shropshire and Telford with the most recent census – taken in 2011 – showing that Shropshire serves 306,100 people, and Telford & Wrekin 166,000.

Leaders of both councils have said they are not interested in pursuing a merger.

However, Telford & Wrekin leader, Councillor Shaun Davies, said that while he and the Shropshire Council leader Peter Nutting are both opposed to the idea, he has concerns that a population cap on authorities may force the issue.

He said: "Me and Peter Nutting are both on record saying one single council for Shropshire would not work.

"Shropshire is a large area with diverse needs and different priorities and I think the system we have in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin works well."

He added: "We are an 'outstanding' children's services provider, we have the lowest council tax in the Midlands and we offer things such as free parking that our residents would lose if there was one council.

"Council tax would go up so it would not be a good deal for the people of Telford & Wrekin."

'Too early'

Councillor Nutting said it was too early to draw conclusions, but added that his authority has "no intentions of trying to take over Telford and Wrekin Council".

He said: "Shropshire Council will consider the government white paper in due course but it is too early to make any substantive comment.

"The paper is largely about changing the role of district and borough councils in areas where two tier authorities still exist. Shropshire Council is already a unitary council so is largely unaffected.

"The other aspect of the white paper is likely to deal with combined authorities and whether areas like Shropshire should have some form of strategic body covering several councils areas and dealing with larger highway projects, flooding, housing growth and strategic planning.

"This is something that we will be discussing with other councils across the region and that could help bring some serious government funding to the area, but it really is too early to draw any conclusions.

"Whatever the white paper actually includes, Shropshire Council has no intentions of trying to take over Telford and Wrekin Council and is content with its current boundaries."

When discussing the potential population issues for councils the CCN report states: "Much debate has taken place as to the optimum size of the unitary authorities. Drawing on previous research from 2006, a population threshold of 300,000 to 800,000 has commonly been cited.

"While the government is yet to formally set out its position, the most recent official Ministerial statement on unitary population size was made in June and outlined that unitary councils are expected to be “substantially in excess of 300-400,000."

"It is anticipated that the White Paper will provide further details on the criteria for unitary proposals."