Devon County Council is set to demand a refund for money it spent preparing for the biggest local government reorganisation in 50 years, a plan that may now be scrapped.
Council decision-makers heard that hundreds of thousands of pounds had been spent getting ready for the local government reorganisation (LGR), which would have completely reshaped how the county is run.
However, an announcement in Parliament on Monday (7 September) said the proposed reorganisation in Devon and other areas would be paused and reviewed.
Devon’s cabinet, meeting on Wednesday (9 September), had been preparing to approve a move to shift £30 million into a reserve pot to help pay for LGR. Until the start of this week, that plan would have seen Devon’s 11 councils abolished and replaced by four new, larger councils.
But Councillor James Buczkowski (Liberal Democrat, Cullompton & Bradninch), the finance cabinet member, asked the meeting to drop the recommendation to create an LGR reserve. Instead, he called for a bid to be reimbursed for what the council had already spent on the process.
“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.”
Councillor Andrew Leadbetter (Conservative, Wearside & Topsham) had asked earlier in the meeting whether the council might be able to get its money back. The 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 by cabinet.
A report on the council’s finances showed that preparing for LGR had stopped it from delivering at least £1 million in hoped-for savings this financial year.
The report 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”.
Cabinet members did express gratitude to the government for looking again at the proposed LGR plan for Devon.
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 in the run-up to LGR and during the time spent preparing for it.
“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 Council Seeks Refund for Reorganisation Costs