Latest news with #unitaryauthority
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
BCP Council's first unified pay structure agreed
Staff at a unitary authority will be on the same pay structure for the first time in a council's history following a vote by of employees at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council have been on different rates of pay since it was formed in years of negotiations with unions, the changes were unanimously agreed at the full council meeting on new terms and conditions will be implemented from 1 December. Last month, GMB and Unison union members voted in favour of the latest proposals which will mean at least 92% of staff will have either an increase or no change in their facing a pay cut will have their salary protected at current levels for a further 18 Tuesday's meeting, councillors approved the additional £1.7m investment needed for the new pay leader Millie Earl said: "Achieving fairness and equality in our pay and grading structure for our staff has always been our primary aim."Getting to this position has taken a huge amount of hard work and effort from everyone involved and we are delighted that we can now offer fair and transparent pay for our workforce." You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Lincolnshire councillors vote to abolish district councils
Lincolnshire's nine councils could be reduced to two or three after councillors voted on how the county's political map could be county council's preferred option is for a single unitary authority coving the whole of Lincolnshire, with district councils abolished. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), North and North East Lincolnshire would be amalgamated into a second separate submitted their initial ideas earlier this year as part of plans to streamline local government and save money. Now, the government has tasked the authorities with choosing their final Liam Kelly described it as "the most sensible" option. "It delivers what voters want – efficiency, value for money and uninterrupted services," he Rob Gibson, the deputy leader who is responsible for the reorganisation process, said any split would "inevitably lead to a reduction in services".He said: "This decision is one of the most important we'll make in this council, and will affect every person in Lincolnshire."Our biggest concern is splitting up adult services, children's services and the fire and rescue service."A discounted option that was considered would have split Greater Lincolnshire into a northern and southern northern council would have been made up of North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, East Lindsey and West the southern council would have included Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, Boston and South will need to send their plans to the government by November before a decision is made, the LDRS is expected that the changes would then come into effect for Lincolnshire by 2027. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Click here to download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and here to download the BBC News app from Google Play for Android devices.
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Plan for new Staffordshire council to replace district put forward
Staffordshire Moorlands Council is to discuss a proposal for a new North Staffordshire unitary comes as the government has called on councils to come up with proposals for replacing the two-tier system that makes up Staffordshire's 10 existing councils and replacing them with two unitary authorities by by a minority Labour administration, a cross-party committee has recommended an option in which the Moorlands would become part of a North Staffordshire Council, along with Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle, Stone, and part of Uttoxeter and nearby to an options appraisal in the council documents, local government reorganisation could save up to £18.8m a year but could cost up to £27.8m in transition costs. 'Best solution' Council leader Mike Gledhill believes the proposal will be good for the Moorlands."We're trying to produce the best solution for the Staffordshire Moorlands that meets the criteria that the government has set. One of those criteria refers to having sensible geographic and economic areas. And you can't have a sensible economic area that doesn't include Stoke-on-Trent."The extended North Staffordshire authority, which would have 536,000 residents in total, would also meet the government's guideline that the new unitaries should have a minimum population of 500, argues that including much of the A50 growth corridor will help make it more financially viable."One of the issues we've had in the Moorlands is that there aren't a lot of options for economic growth. But if a North Staffordshire council included the A50 corridor, it would have the biggest economic growth area in the county." 'No to Stoke' Thousands of people have signed a petition, "No to Stoke", set up by Staffordshire Moorlands Conservatives, opposing what they describe as a 'merger' with Stoke-on-Trent. Local MP Karen Bradley has also voiced her concern, saying the Moorlands should never become "Greater Stoke-on-Trent". The new leader of the Conservative opposition on the district council, Mark Deaville, was part of the sub-committee working on the plan to submit to the said the group still believes that local government reorganisation should not happen, but if it does, they will work to deliver what is best for the people of the Staffordshire Moorlands. This recommendation is due to be discussed at a full council meeting on July 9.
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Views sought on future of Torbay Council
Residents are being asked for their views on the future of Torbay Council as part as the reorganisation of local local authority said it was exploring three options - keep the council as it is, create a new unitary council covering parts of the South Hams and Teignbridge, or create a larger unitary authority including West part of the redesign, the government wants to sweep away all district and county councils and have only unitary authorities which would then band together to form strategic regional authorities with a directly elected Council leader David Thomas said the authority "don't want to risk all our hard work being undone". Residents can fill out the survey online until 00:00 on Sunday 10 August and paper copies will be available at all four local libraries from Friday, the council said. The council said it had already ruled out supporting a single Devon unitary authority, whether it included Plymouth or said it was important the proposal was "right for Torbay" and he encouraged residents to take part in the survey."We want to continue to deliver for our people and our place," he said."We know we have challenges, but we have high aspirations."
BBC News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Oxfordshire County Council launches survey on its devolution plans
A council has launched a public survey into its proposals to create a single unitary authority covering the whole of Oxfordshire. Oxfordshire County Council says its plans to merge all of the county's authorities into one would save taxpayers £27m a leader, councillor Liz Leffman, said the plans would "create stronger, simpler services closer to the communities we serve".Four of the county's district councils have backed a separate plan for two new authorities covering Oxfordshire and West Berkshire. Meanwhile, Oxford City Council says it wants three authorities for the same area - including an expanded "Greater Oxford". 'Protect and enhance' Oxfordshire County Council said its plan to create a unitary authority for the county "offers the best value for money", saving millions of pounds each added that its proposals would "protect and enhance" key frontline services like social care and public health - for which the authority is already responsible."This one council will enable services to be delivered more equitably across Oxfordshire, with residents in every part of the county able to benefit," Ms Leffman said."A single countywide unitary council will provide both the scale and financial resilience that Oxfordshire needs and bring decision making closer to communities by partnering with town and parish councils."She urged people to share their thoughts on the plan through the council survey, which is open until 27 plans have been put forward after the government announced in December 2024 its intention to abolish district councils and introduce large mayoral combined authorities in in those two-tier authority areas can submit proposals for new unitary authorities to the government until the end of November. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
