Boundary Committee report - on reflection, it's probably for the best...

Now that I've had a chance to sleep on things, I tend to the view that the recommendation of a unitary county for Suffolk is a sensible one.

The proposal from Ipswich Borough Council seemed, to my mind at least, to produce an authority too small to be effective, unless the area covered was expanded quite a bit, effectively turning it into the Ipswich & Felixstowe option offered, but not recommended, by the Boundary Committee. The problem with small authorities is that they find it difficult to attract the best staff, have small departments vulnerable to loss of key employees, and lack the clout to make the most cost-efficient deals for contracting out services.

I fear that the writing has been on the wall for Suffolk's District Councils for some time. Increasing struggles to square the circle of tightening budgets and increasing workloads mean that recruitment suffers, staff come under greater pressure, and the need for strong, experienced leadership becomes critical. District Councils find it hard to attract that quality of leadership because they cannot compete in terms of salary levels. That reality is being addressed by sharing senior officers but this only strengthens the case for their abolition, as it is a tacit acknowledgement that size matters. The more that districts pool contracts to obtain better value, the quicker they sign their own death warrants.

The next question is, "How do we strengthen the link between the local residents, with their strong ties to town and village, with a county-wide unitary authority?". The proposal that approximately 22 Community Boards be set up across the county seems to address that, although the devil here is clearly within the detail, and the opportunity exists to gerrymander the makeup of these Boards to favour one particular political party.

There will also be the difficulties presented for villages close to dominant towns, whereby there is a genuine risk that our voices will be lost in the crowd. It will be essential that parishes seek strong representation to prevent that from happening.

In financial terms, the logic is indisputable. In terms of local democracy, the case remains unproved. But in an era of austerity, I fear that the financial case will trump the local democracy concerns every time. The head says yes, the heart has regrets...