Super-council? No thanks

Published: 5 November, 2010

• WHILE we support cross-borough working to reduce costs, we are dismayed by the lack of consultation by the majority Conservative Party on the principle of merging services and we therefore cannot support the concept of what would be, in effect, the creation of a super-majority without scrutiny of the opposition.

With differing levels of delivery of front-line services across the three councils it will be hard to determine which standards should be adopted over the revised area, which together with the review of housing benefits has the potential further to discriminate against the less advantaged within our borough.

There is also concern that the proposal to create a super-council would not be based on the efficiency of essential services but more about the commissioning of these services by a series of faceless officers without first-hand local knowledge of the individual areas. 

This policy cannot be supported unless there is a guarantee that there is local control over the decisions over the services that the council exist to provide.

Furthermore, the proposed creation of a super-borough further distances the decision-makers from the needs of the local electorate, which is contrary to the Liberal Democrat policy of involvement within the local community.

The release of this policy, in the same week as the announcement of the Comprehensive Spending Revenue could be considered to be a cynical exercise in aggrandisement rather than a case of simple cost cutting. 

Without the benefit of consultation via the ballot box to the proposals, it would appear in some cases to be a budget revenue at a cost to democracy.

CLLR CAROL CARUANA 
Leader Lib Dem Group 
Kensington & Chelsea
CLLR TIM JONES
CLLR LINDA WADE
Kensington & Chelsea
BRIAN ORRELL
Chair Kensington & Chelsea 
Lib Dems
HENRIETTA BEWLEY 
Chair Hammersmith & Fulham 
Lib Dems
SUE BARING
Chair Westminster Lib Dems