Council shake-up may be challenged, says authority

Government plans to abolish 11 councils and create four new ones in a county could be challenged, a council said.

Hertfordshire County Council said it was exploring ways of contesting the "disruptive" move.

Paul de Kort, the Liberal Democrat leader at St Albans City and District Council, said the government had "ignored its own guidance".

Richard Henry, the leader of Labour-controlled Stevenage Borough Council, said the change would save money and keep "the local in local government".

Hertfordshire currently has a county council and 10 districts and boroughs.

The government has made it clear that it wants this two-tier arrangement to be replaced with unitary authorities delivering all public services.

It announced on Thursday that Hertfordshire will get four of these new councils.

This was the option favoured by six of the 11 existing authorities, while the others wanted two or three councils.

Hertfordshire County Council wanted just two authorities, splitting the county down the middle.

Steve Jarvis, Hertfordshire County Council's Liberal Democrat leader, said "nobody had asked" for the reorganisation and a four-way split was the worst option because it meant dividing up the teams providing services such as social care.

He added: "Whilst we will continue to work with other Hertfordshire councils to prepare for reorganisation and to make our case for a mayor as strongly as possible, we will explore ways in which we can challenge the government's decision to create four unitary councils."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said that Paul de Kort claimed: "By choosing to create four unitary councils in Hertfordshire rather than two, the government has chosen to ignore its own guidance surrounding population size and boundary consistency.

"This presents great risks for residents."

Conservative-controlled Broxbourne Borough Council had supported having four councils, which the leader, Corina Gander described as "the least-worst option".

She said she was worried council tax might go up as the result of the reorganisation, and residents who "know where our offices are" might lose "face-to-face contact".

Under the new arrangements, some towns will be split between difference authorities.

Stephen Giles-Medhurst, leader of the Liberal Democrat-led Three Rivers District Council, said: "I am extremely disappointed at the government's decision that not only breaks up two existing councils but continues to split the Kings Langley community between two new unitaries."

But other Labour politicians welcomed the announcement.

Rose Grewal, the leader of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, said: "The new unitary authority for our area will give residents a single point of contact for all services and create a council with the capacity to take on greater responsibilities, while remaining connected and accountable to the communities it serves."

Many councils said they would try to keep disruption to a minimum during the changeover and would work to deliver the best possible services.

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