Masters of our destiny (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Masters of our destiny

10:00am Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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Should Basingstoke and Deane go it alone as a unitary authority? That is the question being asked by local politicians. Today, borough Labour group leader Councillor Laura James explains why she and members of her group believe the idea has merits.

"ONE of the biggest debates in modern politics surrounds how local communities can truly affect the decisions about education, health, policing and the issues that affect their lives. Truly accountable local government needs to be as close to the people as possible.

A Basingstoke and Deane Unitary Council would put the destiny, the vision and the future of our town and borough in our communities’ hands.

A Unitary Council would bring all local government services under one democratically accountable local authority, based on our existing boundaries, because we are already one of the largest borough councils in terms of size of population and geography in the country.

As a Unitary Council, Basingstoke and Deane would no longer be competing with 11 other districts, or be ruled by a remote county council in Winchester.

Basingstoke is in Hampshire, but that doesn’t mean we should see our schools, care services and roads remotely run from Winchester. Portsmouth and Southampton are in Hampshire but their councils are in control of their own services.

Hampshire County Council is all about protecting Hampshire and the rural elite. They look out for Winchester and Basingstoke loses out on a regular basis.

For every £1,000 of your council tax, £900 of it is spent by councillors and officers in Winchester.

Instead of arguing over who does what, or who is responsible for what, a Unitary Council would create one line of direct accountability for all services.

Just think of the savings in cutting out duplication and bureaucracy. But it isn’t just about efficiency – you can only cut so much. It has to be about improving the standard of council services.

When you talk to people in Basingstoke, the issues of concern they raise are on schools, roads, health, the police and things that we don’t control.

We also struggle as a borough council to influence these huge issues because the county in Winchester is a law unto itself.

As a Unitary Council, we would not have to accept school closures like Beechdown, Chineham Park or Worting imposed on us from Winchester without any real consultation with residents.

We would not have to accept the closure of older people’s homes such as Newman Bassett, again done to us by officials in Winchester.

We don’t have to accept the chaos on our roads, presided over by officials and councillors not based or directly accountable to the people of Basingstoke and Deane.

Just think what an Education Action Zone could do for Basingstoke schools operating through a Basingstoke Education Authority that people can see and hold accountable.

Just think what a programme of infrastructure investment controlled by a Basingstoke-based Transport Authority could do for our roads and pathways.

Just think what we could achieve by joining up with the public sector in Basingstoke, working with a single authority that gave leadership and vision for our town and borough.

Just think what we could do for older people in Basingstoke with services that were far more in touch with their local needs.

Bedford Borough Council is just one example of a council that stood up against its county and delivered for its residents by making the business case for a Unitary Council. It is now a Unitary Council. It is more efficient, it made £18million savings for local taxpayers in its first two years, and it has improved the standards of services it delivers.

Bedford’s politicians came together to do the best for their town and rural area. No one party is in control – the politicians had to work together.

We believe Basingstoke’s Conservative-controlled borough council is developing a dangerous rural urban divide and their plans to join up Basingstoke and Deane with Hart will leave Basingstoke town surrounded by a huge rurally-dominated authority.

And any merger of councils still won’t address the issues we face in education, transport, health or with policing. The problem with such a merger is that it is all about cutting services and efficiencies alone – it isn’t about service improvements or better standards.

We need to renew our local democracy and we believe a Unitary Council for Basingstoke and Deane is the answer."