Devon County Council is set to demand a refund from the government for money it spent preparing for the biggest local government reorganisation in 50 years, a plan that may now be scrapped.
The council heard that hundreds of thousands of pounds had been spent on the local government reorganisation (LGR) that would have reshaped how the county is governed. However, an announcement in Parliament on Monday (7 September) said the proposed reorganisation in Devon and other areas would be paused and reviewed.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (9 September), members had been ready to approve moving £30 million into a reserve pot to help pay for LGR, which would have abolished Devon's 11 councils and replaced them with four larger ones. Instead, Councillor James Buczkowski (Liberal Democrat, Cullompton & Bradninch), the finance cabinet member, asked the meeting to drop that recommendation and instead request a reimbursement for what had already been spent.
"Costs have already been incurred, staff have already been diverted, programme structures have been established," he said.
"Professional and specialist work has been commissioned, and work has taken place across finance, HR, legal, data, ICT, governance and our statutory services, because government instructed councils to prepare for implementation.
"Somebody has to pay for that and I do not believe that somebody should be the council-tax payers of Devon.
"I therefore think it is entirely reasonable that government should meet the reasonable costs resulting from its decisions."
Earlier in the meeting, Councillor Andrew Leadbetter (Conservative, Wearside & Topsham) had asked whether the council could get its money back, while Reform group leader Councillor Michael Fife Cook (Yelverton Rural) called the LGR process "an expensive disaster".
The new motion, asking council leader Councillor Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge) to write to government for a refund, was passed unanimously.
A report on the council's finances showed that preparing for LGR had prevented it from delivering at least £1 million in hoped-for savings this financial year. It outlined issues such as the council not being able to implement a new finance system as quickly as it wanted because of the "increased focus on LGR activities".
Despite the request, cabinet members expressed gratitude to the government for reviewing the proposed plan. Cllr Fife Cook said he hoped there would be "something we can glean from it and turn to our advantage". Cllr Brazil agreed there had been "incredible collaboration" between Devon's councils during the preparation.
"I don't want to lose that momentum," he said. "The lesson for me is that we need to be ahead of the game so that if government comes back, we have already started doing something. We can't stand still, and while that might not be reorganisation, it could be transformation of services."
Devon County Council Demands Refund for Reorganisation Costs