Devolution: The battle to head off the break-up of Gloucestershire
Tewkesbury has put itself front and centre in the wrangle over devolution gripping Gloucestershire, with leader Richard Stanley's vision of a united county and unitary authority fast-winning support.
Dear reader,
Welcome to Thursday’s edition of The Raikes Journal, our digital email magazine for Gloucestershire. Regular readers will know we publish two full editions - on Monday and Friday - reserving Thursday’s edition for an interesting lead story or special edition.
Today’s article sees us look again at the ongoing saga of devolution, something we are told is key to our county’s economic and social fortunes.
As we struggle for any clarity around what local government in Gloucestershire will look like when the process is over, or whether the county as we know it will exist at all, one thing has emerged this week - public opinion is growing in favour of Tewkesbury’s stance.
We talked to its leader, councillor Richard Stanley, one of those who kept out of the early political name-calling to take a stance that makes him something of an outlier in terms of the various districts.
But judging by a petition he’s launched and the support it’s received he may be onto something. He’s the only leader so far who has asked the public for its view.
And last night (Tuesday, 28 January 2025), Tewkesbury Borough Council voted to support Cllr Stanley’s position too - that the optimal outcome for the borough and county is for Gloucestershire to remain intact and not to be divided into east and west divisions.
Stanley believes becoming a single unitary authority, one of the biggest in the UK, will give everyone - businesses and residents - the most powerful position going forward.
We’ve linked the article to the petition so you can see argument laid bare.
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Devolution: The battle to head off the break-up of Gloucestershire
Tewkesbury has put itself front and centre in the wrangle over devolution gripping Gloucestershire, with leader Richard Stanley's vision of a united county and unitary authority fast-winning public support.
When devolution was announced the knee-jerk reaction of many whose focus is on business and investment in Gloucestershire was that it was a good thing.
The vision of a new, stronger unitary authority, with the services delivered by our six district authorities merged under one roof (a move away from the two-tier authority it has been since 1974) was an easy argument to buy into.
But it was a picture soon overrun by talk of partnering with towns and areas outside of Gloucestershire to meet Government guidelines and rules - and even splitting the county down the middle.
The permutations suddenly seemed many and the direction unclear and the break-up of the county very possible.
One insider on the economic growth board within the county council, the board that has replaced the previously independent local enterprise partnership GFirst LEP, told The Raikes Journal many of its business members initial positivity had been replaced by shock.
This article is part of our ongoing series – an attempt to follow the story as best we can in a debate barely taking place in public and which does not look like it will go to a public vote.
Yet it’s a decision that will shape the future of our county, or whether it even has a future, impact hundreds of jobs (the councils are our biggest employers), and will be decided... well, that’s just it - we don’t know how.
Read more: What devolution means for the £1 blln Golden Valley Development
Read more: Devolution: 'Do better’, business community tells politicians
Read more: Devolution – or did someone say ‘fight!’
Gloucestershire MPs are lobbying hard for exceptions to be made to the devolution ‘rules’ laid down by Government in order to get their way with five of the county’s seven MPs stating they believe a single unitary authority is not the way to go.
According to those MPs, who signed an open letter to Jim McMahon, Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, forming an East Gloucestershire and a West Gloucestershire is the solution.
“This proposal would ensure the county receives the considerable benefits of devolution and the move to unitary authorities, whilst retaining councils that work for and crucially make sense to local people,” said the letter, signed by Alex McIntyre, Labour MP for Gloucester, Matt Bishop, Labour Party MP for the Forest of Dean, Dr Simon Opher, Labour MP for Stroud, Dr Roz Savage, Liberal Democrat MP for the Cotswolds, and Max Wilkinson, Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham.
Absent from that list of MPs was any representation from Tewkesbury, but the north Gloucestershire town has put itself front and centre of the wrangle this week and if there was polling it would be doing well.
Liberal Democract MP Cameron Thomas (Tewkesbury) had already made his position clear, that a unitary authority was the way to go - a position backed by Tewkesbury Borough Council leader, Cllr Richard Stanley (Lib Dem).
This week a petition by Cllr Stanley launched on Change.org, called Stop the break up of Gloucestershire, and arguing in favour of the single unitary authority option, has rocketed past 1,140 signatures of support.
And then last night (29 January) Tewkesbury Borough Council also voted to back the single unitary authority option too. It’s the first borough or district we know of that has put it to a vote, albeit in-house.
It is easy to forget that Tewkesbury borough is arguably the most economically dynamic of our local authorities in terms of development and investment. It’s something Cllr Stanley gently reminded us of when we spoke to him for this article.
“The council (Tewkesbury borough) voted that they do not want to see the break-up of Gloucestershire,” he said.
“The Government has expressed a strong preference for large unitary councils to achieve the necessary scale for efficiency savings and deliver joined-up, more accessible services for local communities as part of the plan to deliver greater economic growth.
“As a county-wide unitary authority, we would be best placed to support businesses, develop a Local Skills Improvement Plan, to enhance transport networks and more. We know that when Gloucestershire works together, we have a stronger voice – for example, our county-wide network of Growth Hubs already successfully works well supporting and growing businesses across Gloucestershire.
“Tewkesbury Borough businesses have provided a £3.7 billion contribution to our local economy from over 4,000 active enterprises - a 21 per cent increase in gross value added since 2017.
“As a business powerhouse of the Gloucestershire economy, we see an exciting opportunity to be able to develop a new unitary council, which can bring together the best of the district councils and the county council to deliver the best possible opportunities for jobs, investment and levering funding into the county.
“I recognise our county is diverse and different parts of it have their individual requirements. A single unitary authority for Gloucestershire does not have to mean a one-size-fits-all approach.
“We can achieve greater investment and growth opportunities which play to our combined strengths while working with businesses across the whole county to meet the needs of individual areas and specific sectors.
“By working together under a single unitary umbrella, we can ensure Gloucestershire has a powerful voice.”
When news of devolution first broke Gloucestershire County Council leader, Cllr Stephen Davies (Conservative), announced he would be drafting a letter to Government asking for a delay in this year’s Spring local elections.
Local elections, he said, would be an unnecessary distraction and delay when the focus should be on achieving the benefits of devolution.
It was a ‘light the blue touch paper and stand back’ moment with tempers flaring either end of the Golden Valley and a decision on that delay now seems a key date.
Press releases were issued by the Lib Dem leader of Gloucester City Council, Cllr Jeremy Hilton, and the Lib Dem leader of Cheltenham Borough Council, Cllr Rowena Hay, accusing Cllr Davies of political opportunism and as the leader of a Conservative administration motivated by a desire to cling to power at Shire Hall.
Other local authority leaders took a more measured tone, even if they agreed with the view that local elections should definitely not be postponed.
And then we had the letter signed by the five MPs.
But at the time of publication of this article Raikes was unable to confirm the draft letter asking for a postponement of the local elections in Gloucestershire was ever even sent.
Neither were we able to confirm the process the county will follow to achieve its preferred future state for Gloucestershire, who lead, who will lead that process or whether any gauge would be taken on public opinion.
A statement from Tewkesbury Borough Council issued this morning did suggest some new dates for the diary.
“Central government proposed the English Devolution White Paper in early December 2024 and a decision is soon expected to be announced which will see a selected number of areas invited to join the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme.
“This will determine the Government’s position on Gloucestershire and whether changes will take place in phase one or two of the local government reorganisation.
“Phase one would see the first set of new unitary councils begin operation in April 2027 with phase two set for April 2028.”
Any delays will see Gloucestershire in phase two.
Read more: What devolution means for the £1 blln Golden Valley Development
Read more: Devolution: 'Do better’, business community tells politicians
Read more: Devolution – or did someone say ‘fight!’