We suspect that most residents in Harlow will be unaware that proposals are well underway to scrap Essex County Council (ECC) and the District Councils in Essex, including Harlow District Council (HDC), to be replaced by a small number of what is known as Unitary Councils which would provide all the services presently provided by the two types of councils.
Such changes have already taken place in other parts of the country in recent years and under the guise of devolution, the new Labour Government are forging ahead in encouraging such changes despite the opposition from many who see this is all about giving more power to a smaller number of councillors.
Without any consultation with residents, ECC has already postponed local elections in May this year and at least three Harlow Councillors have spoken in favour of these changes.
The Harlow Alliance Party (HAP) take a very different view, one which notes that whilst all is not well with how ECC is run, creating a number of large authorities in Essex is not the way to go about improving services.
Priorities With the NHS, social care, SEND and other public services in crisis, you would think that central and local government would want to concentrate time, money and effort on improving services, rather than make changes of which there is no evidence they will make improvements,
Why? There has been no consultation with residents and in the 6 years of its existence members of HAP have never come across anyone expressing the view that such changes are needed. HDC has recently held meetings where the public have been barred from attending, one wonders what was being discussed behind closed doors, indeed the council do not appear to have made any public comment on these proposals.
The proposals. Depending on which Councillor, in their interests, you listen to, ECC will be carved up into between 3 and 5 new Districts. The Government want each new council to serve a population of about 500,000 residents. With a population of 1.9 million, 3 or 5 new councils may therefore be unlikely. Councillors like Joel Charles have suggested that a West Essex Council may be formed to include HDC and East Herts DC but this is simply not on the cards, so the development at Gilston will never become part of the Harlow district. The proposals will see Harlow Council swallowed up in a new authority to include Uttlesford, Epping Forest and Chelmsford with a population as at 2021 of 502,000.
Representation. The 93,000 residents of Harlow are represented by 33 councillors, the 92,000 living in Uttlesford 39 councillors, the 134,000 living in Epping Forest 54 councillors and the 183,000 living in Chelmsford 57 councillors, a total of 183. Bearing in mind what has already happened across the country, this number will no doubt be considerably reduced. As an example of this, Cornwall with a population of 575,000 has just 87 Councillors. These changes have already given more power to less councillors who are even more remote from residents than they are now.
Town and Parish Councils. Many residents living in our neighbouring council areas, such as Waltham Abbey, Loughton and Ongar have Town and Parish Councils. Will we the residents of Harlow be afforded the same? If so, we will end up still having two councils in the area, as we do now.
Savings. Much is made by those supporting the changes who elude to savings that can be made and Council Tax bills being greatly reduced. But the facts do not bear this out. In the short term the changes proposed will come at a huge cost, borne by us Council Tax payers. At the moment HDC Council Tax Band D payers pay about £2 per week more than those living in Southend and Thurrock which are Unitary Authorities. Comparision with others such as Cornwall, Durham, Wilstshire and Dorset however show that residents there are paying between £4 and £8 per week more.
Financial implications. There is no doubt that over the years ECC have made a pigs ear of many issues and are heavily in debt. What will happen to these debts, will they be spilt amongst the new Unitary Councils? And what of the cost to make these changes. As examples you only have to look at one element, that is the integration of computer systems. West Sussex County Councils move to Oracle has taken some 5 years and costs ballooned from £2.6 million to £40 million.
In conclusion, HAP believe the changes proposed will be disastrous for the future of the town. Our locally elected representatives will be outnumbered by those living elsewhere and all council services will be swallowed up in a much larger authority, with all the same problems experienced with Essex County Council.
