Christchurch and East Dorset Councils: Proposed Abolition

Part of Backbench Business – in the House of Commons at 5:00 pm on 1 December 2016.

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Photo of Christopher Chope Christopher Chope Conservative, Christchurch 5:00, 1 December 2016

Nothing my hon. Friend says is incorrect, but the situation is that the leaders of councils should—as the leader of East Dorset Council has said—enter into those discussions and negotiations having sought a mandate from their own councillors. That is not what is being proposed in Christchurch. For good measure, the Christchurch Council leader has also criticised the combined authority, despite being a party to submitting it to the Government. He said:

“We don’t think it would deal with the massive expectation”.

It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the public consultation has been so criticised as inadequate, biased and, indeed, untruthful. I am sorry that my hon. Friend Simon Hoare has been taken in by this, because the consultation was designed to mislead respondents into believing that no change in structures was not an option. The consultation questionnaire gave the impression that there was no alternative to abolishing the existing structure of nine councils, and stated that if the nine councils were retained,

“major savings would need to be found and it is likely that many council services could not be provided in future”.

The only argument it put forward in the consultation for retaining the nine existing councils was “familiarity”—nothing about control over one’s own destiny and all the rest of it.

No evidence is produced in support of the scaremongering in the document. Indeed, I have been informed by the councils’ chief finance officers that all

“authorities within Dorset are in a solvent position and have sufficient balances to remain this way for the foreseeable future”.