Agenda item

(i)                 That the receipt of Government feedback in relation to the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent submissions of Interim Plans for Local Government Reorganisation, be noted.

(ii)                That it be noted that the Council will now further engage with Government and Staffordshire Leaders through a meeting separate to the Staffordshire Leaders Board.

(iii)              That it be delegated to the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder, Finance, Town Centres & Growth,  to engage the necessary support for the work on the local government reorganisation, noting that the borough is not yet in receipt of funding from Government to partially offset any costs accrued and that the Council continues to seek a fair allocation of this funding.

(iv)              That  £200k to be transferred from the Business Rates Reserve to the Budget Support and Borrowing Fund in order to fund the work needed to submit the Council’s final Local Government Reorganisation Plan.

(v)               That Newcastle-Under-Lyme’s Members of Parliament be called upon  to support the Borough’s resolutions as set out in the report to full Council of 19^th March 2025, and that they engage with Government Ministers in stating the case for the Borough.

The Leader introduced a report providing an update on feedback received from Government on the Council’s submission of an interim plan and to agree the next steps.

Members had been informed at the last meeting that the Council was awaiting feedback from the Government on the proposal that had been put to them by this Authority and others from around the County.  This had been delayed and there was a slippage in the Government’s plans in that the 2028 start date for the new Council’s was now seen as the most ambitious.  This could give councils the opportunity to ask the  Government to maybe think again and to rally support to that cause.

As part of the reply to the interim plans, a small amount of money was to be spread across Staffordshire authorities to work on them.  Newcastle’s plans were to investigate a number of options which it would continue to do.  Meetings had taken place among Chief Executives across the County and amongst Leaders of councils too.  £200,000 would be transferred from the Business Rates Reserve Fund to the Budget Support Fund to enable the Council to continue the work on Local Government Reorganisation.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council have a meeting tomorrow evening looking at options, including a North Staffordshire Authority taking in Stoke, Staffordshire Moorlands and Newcastle, and possibly parts or all of East Staffordshire and Stafford – although this Council had not been consulted.  The Leader stated that he would be writing to the Leader of Staffordshire Moorlands to put this Council’s position, that it was against a merger with Stoke and supported discussions around an option to work with the Moorlands.

The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Planning stated that the Council was being forced to waste money on useless and unwanted projects instead of spending it in the community.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth agreed with  everything that had been said and stated that it was bizarre that Staffordshire Moorlands had come up with a scheme to be taken over by Stoke.

The Leader stated that the Government’s response, as detailed in the report, again completely failed to make the case for a forced reorganisation  and did not explain how it would improve services.

Resolved:    (i)       That the receipt of Government feedback in relation to the

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent submissions of Interim Plans for Local Government Reorganisation, be noted.

(ii)             That it be noted that the Council will now further engage with Government and Staffordshire Leaders through a meeting separate to the Staffordshire Leaders Board.

(iii)           That it be delegated to the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder, Finance, Town Centres & Growth,  to engage the necessary support for the work on the local government reorganisation, noting that the borough is not yet in receipt of funding from Government to partially offset any costs accrued and that the Council continues to seek a fair allocation of this funding.

(iv)              That  £200k to be transferred from the Business Rates Reserve to the Budget Support and Borrowing Fund in order to fund the work needed to submit the Council’s final Local Government Reorganisation Plan.

(v)               That Newcastle-Under-Lyme’s Members of Parliament be called upon  to support the Borough’s resolutions as set out in the report to full Council of 19^th March 2025, and that they engage with Government Ministers in stating the case for the Borough.

Watch the debate here