Suffolk County Council leaders to agree £1.9 million to offset initial shake-up costs

Leaders are set to agree £1.9 million in funding to offset the initial costs of Suffolk's major council shake-up process.

Cllr Richard Rout, who's leading the county council's council shake-up and devolution bids, is scheduled to ask cabinet members on Tuesday to commit £1.9 million to offset initial costs.

As part of the Government's priority programme, Suffolk is now working at pace to not only deliver local government reorganisation (LGR), replacing the existing councils with one or more unitary authorities, but also set up a mayoral combined authority alongside Norfolk County Council.

Cllr Rout said: “Modernising Suffolk’s 50-year-old council structure is a significant piece of work which will require a large investment of time and money to achieve the even larger savings and improvements that are on offer.

“From cutting costs and keeping Council Tax as low as possible, to improving services and giving a stronger voice for local communities – there is much to be gained."

The money is meant to support the work required to implement both projects by transferring it out of the authority's risk reserve and into its corporate priorities pot.

Although both projects will transform the way Suffolk is governed, they will operate across different timescales and through different processes.

On LGR, Suffolk councils must now prepare their final business cases, due to be submitted to the Government by September 26, outlining how many unitary authorities they would prefer, what costs would be associated with their proposals, and the savings expected as a result.

This has split the county, however, with the county council calling for a single unitary authority to be set up while the districts and borough stated their preference for two or three unitaries.

The county council cites national modelling, which puts the transition costs of setting up a single unitary at £18.9 million, while two or three unitaries could cost anywhere between £25.5 million and £32.2 million.

Similarly, the council states, the potential savings are modelled to reduce significantly as the number of unitaries increases.

Cllr Rout said: “We recognise our cabinet paper proposes a substantial level of investment, but if the government chooses to break Suffolk up, the costs will run much higher.

“If we’re going to create a truly sustainable and effective council structure for Suffolk, then one new council is not just the only viable option, but also the best one.”

Meanwhile, the district and borough authorities have repeatedly said a single unitary authority would be too big and lack local representation.

In a joint statement, they said: "The five district and borough councils are working together to produce proposals for more than one council for Suffolk, with each council delivering all local authority services for their area.

"We believe this is vital to meet the differing needs of our diverse communities."

Two separate consultations are currently ongoing, seeking the views of residents — they can be found here and here.