House Builders Federation East of England Planning Meeting

Michael Hardware was invited to present on local government reorganisation and devolution at the House Builders Federation East of England Planning Meeting on 22 October in Cambridge. It is a subject he was very familiar with as he is the cabinet member for local government reorganisation and devolution at Harlow Council, as well as an Essex county councillor.

He gave an update on Essex, following the submission of four business plans to MHCLG at the end of September: a three-unitary configuration – north, mid and south, promoted by Essex County Council, a five-unitary, proposed by Southend City Council and supported by most Essex councils, and then two four-unitaries one from Thurrock and the other Rochford. MHCLG will consult on the business plan(s) it wishes to progress in November, with a final decision to come in February/March next year. Elections for the new unitaries in Essex will take place in 2027 with the new councils ‘shadowing’ the existing councils, before being ‘vested’ in 2028. At this point the existing county, district, borough, city and existing unitary councils will be abolished.

Michael explained that there appeared to be little correlation between size and success with existing unitary authorities across the country: size does not matter. He believes that the success of any council is down to its leadership, the ability of the councillors and officers in the administration, and the aspiration and ambition the council has.

Greater Essex Mayor

Elections for a mayor of Greater Essex will happen next May, with the new mayor taking responsibility for a range of functions including  economic development, transport, skills and adult education, becoming a regional champion and Spatial planning. The new mayor will head a combined authority made up of the new unitary councils.

In terms of the development industry, the new mayor will have responsibility for: spatial development strategies Local Growth Plan, Spatial Strategy, key infrastructure, strategic locations, local housing need and allocation, Mayoral CIL to support the delivery of strategic infrastructure projects, development & nature recovery, development corporations & compulsory purchase and interventions call-in and direct refusal, local plans progression.

Opportunity

Michael went on to conclude that local government reorganisation and devolution provided a superb opportunity to restructure local government. We need to look backwards from the services we need to deliver and determine what structure needs to be in place to deliver those as efficiently and effectively as possible. Planning was cited as one example – more joined-up service delivery, in particular infrastructure.