Councillors have warned of the “dilution of democracy” as new interim ward arrangements are set out for unitary authorities in Devon.
In the biggest local government shake-up in 50 years, Devon’s 481 councillors will reduce to 321 as the county and eight district councils are abolished. Devon councils have had just over three weeks to come up with new ward boundaries, which will see some communities combined and larger populations per councillor.
The timescale was set by the government, which announced last month that Devon would have four unitary councils responsible for all services in 2028: Exeter Council, Torbay and South Devon Council, Greater Plymouth Council and a large, mainly rural, Devon Council. The authorities will have 86, 64, 68 and 103 members respectively.
Devon County Council is making it clear to government that it does not endorse the arrangements due to the “demographic deficit”. It has been scathing of the government’s choice in how the county should be carved up, following a number of alternative proposals that were put forward which it said better met the government’s own criteria.
The new Devon Council, which will stretch over 100 miles from north to south, was also unpopular with the public, with only 20 per cent supporting it as an option during a public consultation. Devon County Council will decide in September whether to proceed to legally challenge the government over its decision.
Deputy Leader Cllr Paul Arnott (Lib Dem, Coly Valley) said at a meeting of the council to agree its submission for new interim warding arrangements that the Labour-led councils of Plymouth and Exeter had got what they wanted and would expand into neighbouring parishes, whilst rural Devon had been stuck with the “comedy option” covering a population of around 480,000 people.
Ilfracombe councillor Sara Wilson (Green) said the current seven councillors for the town, which is one of the most deprived in the county, would decrease to three. The ward will become “Ilfracombe and Woolacombe Coast” and will extend to 10,500 people. With fewer councillors there would be less time to do face to face work in the communities, she said, leading to more people being “disengaged”.
Others feared that the transition would hamper improvements being made by Devon County Council in children’s services and SEND, and there was concern over a loss of community cohesion in areas where boundaries were changing.
Council leader Julian Brazil (Lib Dem, Kingsbridge) said he wanted to make it clear that the current local government shake-up and the warding arrangements were something that was being “done to us”.
“Our officers have a legal duty to carry out this task and have done so to best of their ability and done an excellent job in the timeframe, but this in no way means we support it by any stretch of the imagination.”
He said that due to the card Devon had been dealt by the government, in some areas 1,400 people would be represented by one councillor and in others 4,000. “The differential is unacceptable,” he said.
“It’s an affront to democracy because of the pace and way they (the government) are forcing us to do it. We are the ones who will have to pick up the pieces.
“I am not opposed to local government reorganisation as I think there are benefits but what we are seeing will deliver none of those benefits.”
Devon Councillors Warn of Democracy Dilution in New Interim Wards