Plans for wholesale changes to local government across the country have been published in an English Devolution White Paper by the Government in what is considered to be the biggest shake up of Councils in 50 years. The paper proposes the creation of new “Strategic Authorities” led by an Elected Mayor across a large geography and supported by bigger Unitary councils that would do the work of County and District Councils.
Fareham Borough Council stands ready to work with the Government and with the other councils in Hampshire to see what opportunities can be unlocked through the devolution of powers from Whitehall to our local areas. However, the Council is also very clear that any new arrangements must deliver tangible benefits for residents and businesses across Fareham.
Cllr Simon Martin, Executive Leader of Fareham Borough Council, said: ‘People that work in local government do so because they want to have a positive outcome on the local community. Here in Fareham, despite the challenging budget cuts for local government, we have continued to deliver huge projects for our community that really do change lives – whether that be driving economic growth and delivering employment spaces, increasing our Council-owned housing stock or providing new leisure and theatre facilities. We would welcome an opportunity to showcase these to Government as actions most certainly do speak louder than words!
‘Our clear focus is to proactively drive forward a strategy of transformational change for our town centre through a series of direct interventions, that is being built on what the community has told us it wants. It is difficult to understand how projects of this nature could be delivered from one large unitary authority without that detailed understanding and local knowledge.
‘Our location in the heart of Fareham means we are here for the people that need us. We are easily accessible and people can and do drop in to speak to us; the 1.9m contacts with our customers last year is testament to this. It is therefore really important that the Government focuses on the true prize of devolution by moving powers and decisions close to the people they affect, rather than being distracted by a policy that could just make councils more remote from the communities they serve.’
Fareham Borough Council looks forward to participating fully as plans for devolution develop, underpinned by the premise of ensuring any plans strengthen local accountability, create opportunities for growth, and deliver genuine benefits for the people of Fareham.
