Reform UK's Big Plan

The Reform UK leadership of Kent County Council is to press ahead with a proposal for a single council in Kent to achieve local government reform.

Reform UK Kent County Council chief Cllr Linden Kemkaran believes that one, new unitary body would deliver the best outcomes for local residents and be more cost-effective.

Other leaders of councils in the county have already agreed to submit a plan supporting three and four unitaries to replace the current 14 which will be abolished under the local government reorganisation.

It was launched last December by the then Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, and her junior minister Jim McMahon, both of whom have left their posts.

One borough council leader said Cllr Kemkaran’s plan, which would have a single unitary authority and three area assemblies, is “undemocratic and unsupported” which will be hugely costly.

Cllr Kemkaran has written to other Kent council leaders confirming her intention.

KCC has confirmed it will self-fund its solo project but has yet to work out the cost to the taxpayer.

Cllr Kemkaran’s letter said: “I remain of the view that the cost implications and risk to service quality of disaggregating significant and complex KCC services into smaller unitary councils is of very high risk and therefore unacceptable.

“I remain unconvinced that the full cost of LGR (local government reorganisation) has been explored or understood in any detail by anyone involved in this process. I am deeply concerned that the cost will ultimately be borne by the Kent taxpayer.

“I believe that this scenario should be avoided at all costs.”

While Cllr Kemkaran’s single unitary proposal received little support from other Kent leaders, the influential County Councils’ Network (CCN) appears to endorse its cost efficiency.

When Mrs Rayner’s “Devolution Revolution” was announced last year it was predicated on 2020 CCN data, which would have delivered £2.9bn in savings over five years.

Revised figures and further analysis this year showed that level of savings can now only be made if there is only one unitary authority in each of the 21 English two tier counties, of which Kent is one.

But the government reforms would need to see the formation of dozens of new unitaries in total, which the CCN says would be a massive money loser.

A KCC statement said today: “KCC’s administration believes that a single unitary council would deliver the best outcomes for Kent residents to quickly bring about cost savings for taxpayers while ensuring that local communities can have their say on how services in their area are run.

“A single unitary has the added benefit of avoiding the substantial costs that would come with reconfiguring the county into multiple councils which is being proposed through other LGR options.

“This could see an additional cost of up to £40million every year to run four unitary councils and could result in council tax increases or reductions in service to cover the costs.”

The KCC leadership says £16.2m a year could be saved on social care and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). There would be economies of scale by providing county-wide services.

The area assemblies would run services such as libraries and leisure facilities, roads and make planning decisions.

Cllr Kemkaran sought to reassure the other leaders in Kent that “despite our differences” KCC would “continue to act in good faith”.

The new Secretary of State, Steve Reed, must receive submissions by November 28.

On self-funding, a KCC spokesperson said: “The proposal will be self-funded by KCC, with the majority of the KCC business case prepared by KCC officers.

“There may be a need for some external support on specific aspects of the business case, but we have not yet confirmed those and therefore cannot comment on costs. Any additional support required will be funded from existing approved budgets.”

But Green Party leader of Maidstone Borough Council, Cllr Stuart Jeffery (pictured below), who is also a KCC member, said Cllr Kemkaran’s plan is a “mess”.

He added: “KCC’s proposals are undemocratic and unsupported by the rest of Kent’s councils – Reform UK is throwing a huge amount of tax payers’ money at a vanity project that will fail.

“Their proposal would be for a council twice the size of Birmingham’s and we can see what an appalling mess they are in.

“Simply adding councils together will just add the problems together. With Medway facing a £20m deficit and Kent £80m, Reform’s plan will simply land us with a £100m problem.

“We need to be far more radical if we want local councils and local democracy to survive.

“In addition, the idea that a council can function with 260 councillors is frankly bonkers.

“Can you imagine the chaos in a full council meeting? If you had fewer councillors than that then the work load would be overwhelming and residents would not be properly represented. Their plan is a mess.”

A former Conservative county councillor from the last administration said: “I can understand why Linden is doing it but she hasn’t a hope in hell of getting it accepted by the government.”