Local Government Reorganisation in Hertfordshire

Response from Ruth Brown

Leader of North Herts Council Liberal Democrat Group

I am hugely disappointed, by the government’s recent announcement, that the 4 Unitary Option has been chosen for Hertfordshire. This decision disregards the government’s own guidelines and is the most complex, disruptive and least financially viable option.

This option involves redrawing a number of boundaries and means the Central Unitary will start with a financial deficit. Each of these Councils will serve around 300,000 residents, significantly short of the government’s optimal size of 500,000. This means that services will be harder to deliver efficiently and will not save money, whilst still being further from residents than before.

For North Herts, which will be divided between the new Central and Eastern Unitaries, the consequence will be communities divided and economic connections broken. In particular, Royston will become part of Eastern Herts, despite having little in common with Bishop’s Stortford and Broxbourne, whilst the villages of Weston & Sandon will be split from Baldock, their nearest local town.

This decision will not help collect bins, manage parks or provide more social housing. It is the worst choice for our communities and the economy. It will cost local taxpayers more and make many services less efficient. It makes no logical sense.

Dividing up Hertfordshire in this way is utter madness. It is a missed opportunity to create sustainable councils able to deliver services in a better and more efficient way. This is gerrymandering at its worst, breaking up communities to create councils which Labour have a better chance of winning.