The Demise of the SHIRES?

1st February 2006

T. Wyn Jones

Recent proposals to give Parish Councils stronger planning powers were kicked into touch by Local Government Minister Philip Woolas

Following on from a recent Commons debate where MP’s were told that Parish Councils felt ignored and distrusted when it came to planning matters and that their contribution to village plans or appraisals were undervalued several MP’s suggested that the Parish Councils should have development control responsibilities over Planning Permissions and Enforcement.

However, Local Government Minister Philip Woolas made it clear that the Government did not believe there was a case for giving Parish Councils planning powers. Not only that he played down the extent of the disagreement between Parish and District Councils and indicated that such a move would be prohibitively expensive.

Not surprising really as I am informed that the Government are considering reforms that may result in future English Councils being run by directly elected executives or cabinets and the abolishment of 1000 years of shire government.

Under Government plans for the biggest reform of local authority structures in decades teams from the Deputy Prime Minister’s office have, I am told been briefing Council officers across the country about new arrangements ahead of a White Paper due in the spring. There are, I understand a number of proposals within the paper including one that Councils should be run by executives who would be directly elected every four years.

In addition a recently leaked internal document indicated that the Government’s preferred option was to abolish the current shire counties and Districts Councils and replace them with a single tier unitary authority.

Does this mean that there will be no more Shropshire & Herefordshire et al with the “Old Counties” following the streamlining trend currently engulfing the police forces throughout the country?

If so will local government be more efficient and democratic? Perhaps those of you living in England should hop across the border and ask the Welsh if they preferred the days of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and the like to that of the current unitary Powys?