The impact of two unitary councils on Cumbria

I have had a conversation today with someone about the changes to local government in Cumbria.

They said it will make no real difference to them and may mean they actually get charges less Council tax they thought as less councils to pay for 👀😔

So I explained that currently as a county wide services delivery Cumbria County Council is responsible for the strategic local services across Cumbria including education in English, our children’s schools, both primary and secondary

The counties Libraries

Things like youth services,

Social services including - things like fostering and adoption.

Highway maintenance

Waste disposal

Consumer protection - trading standards.

Emergency planning like the county response and coordination over the last year with Covid19.

Cumbria wide Health and Wellbeing linked to the 2 health trusts that serve the North and the south of Cumbria.

As a few services delivered county wide currently.

Then we have things like school buildings the fire stations etc all county wide owned buildings that are paid for and maintained from a Cumbria wide budget.

From May 2023 the above will be split and delivered as 2 separate services by 2 separate councils meaning no more Cumbria wide education service with county wide resources.

No more Cumbria wide library services with the shared Cumbria wide resources.

The health trusts with have to deal with 2 spectate councils each with its own health and wellbeing policy and agenda.

County wide strategic planning and vision will be gone and become the role of the 2 separate councils.

Needless to say the person was shocked and had no idea of the wider impacts that would impact their daily lives and that of their family.

They thought all it would mean is the district council that collects their bins would be merged with 2 others and mean they did not have to pay as much Council tax.

In reality the 2 unitary system will mean councils become cash and resource restricted with the loss of county wide funds and resources to share across Cumbria.

Areas of deprecation that could be supported with county wide resources and funding will now have a smaller pot of cash and resources to deliver on.

The same costs that were there for school’s, library services still will be there the bins still need emptied the streetlights maintained all that now falls on the 2 unitary and the costs onto a smaller number of people to pay rather than county wide share funding and resources.

District councils on some parts of Cumbria have pushed street lighting onto town and parish councils for example with others owned by county Will unitary see more streetlights pushed down to parish councils for example and the costs ultimately onto local communities to cover or loose services.

I pointed out that I don’t blame anyone in the community for not knowing the implications of the changes as councils across Cumbria have collectively failed to widely engage and push out what it means and to be honest, they don’t even know themselves all the details and impacts.

More so government has failed Cumbria both with the proposal approved for 2 unitary coincide but more so with then inadequate consultation and engagement on the process and for pushing the whole thing through in the middle of a pandemic when everyone should be focused on supporting and delivering for the community to get through the pandemic.

The only winner of this mess will be a small few who are delivering political gains rather than levelling up and delivery of benefits for People and place over power and gains.

The true impact and cost of this will become evident over the next 2 years and will have wide reaching ramifications for Cumbria and its people that will impact our county for decades to come.