Unitary decision 'unlawful'
"Mark my words, this will become an expensive shambles" - the words of South Norfolk District council leader John Fuller almost three years ago have rung all too true.
The High Court ruling that the decision to grant unitary status to Norwich was unlawful must be the final nail in the coffin of a story that has run and run, become more and more complicated and cost taxpayers millions of pounds.
However, it's all academic now because the new government had already decided that home rule for Norwich wouldn't work and had pulled the plug on it.
It was back in January 2007 that Steve Morphew, the Norwich City Council's Labour leader, stood on the steps of City Hall alongside representatives from the Greens and Lib Dems as he launched Norwich's "unique bid" as he called it, to become a Unitary Authority.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Norwich, already the powerhouse of the county, to become the economic driver of the whole of the eastern region of England," he declared.
Yes, it would cost a lot of money to set up, but a single council running all Norwich's services would produce efficiency savings of £32m. Council tax would not have to rise.
What followed was a long and bitter debate involving several reports by the Boundary Commission and legal challenges which left even those close to the process completely confused.
Then, with just months to go before an election, the then communities Secretary John Denham gave the go-ahead for a Norwich Unitary Authority under its existing boundaries, even though the consultation had been on a different proposal.
His civil servants advised at the time that his decision could be successfully challenged in the courts and so it was.
The High Court concluded that Mr Denham had behaved unfairly.
Mr Justice Ouseley said that by changing the criteria at the last moment "the secretary of state had simply made a mockery of the consultation process".
The last government rushed through the orders creating the Norwich Authority before the election and confidently predicted that any new government would find it hard to reverse the legislation.
But they hadn't reckoned on Eric Pickles, the new tough no-nonsense Communities Secretary, who just told Norwich to "forget it" before he even tried to undo the legislation.
That legislation is being held up (as Labour predicted it would) but Mr Pickles is determined and, besides, the courts have now ruled the whole thing illegal.
Mr Morphew has now conceded that the unitary dream is at an end but he doesn't rule out trying again at some stage in the future. He says he's disappointed.
Norfolk County Council, who took the court action, feels vindicated.
There is now a question mark over whether 13 by-elections will have to be held in the summer (because the councillors who should have stood down in May were give special leave to stay on providing unitary status was going ahead) and the Department for Communities which has just been forced to make cuts of £780m to its budget has been left with a large bill for costs.
As Mr Fuller predicted, it's all ended in an expensive shambles.
Welcome to the political blog for the East. I'm Deborah McGurran, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Political Editor for the region. From Lowestoft to Luton, this is the place for politics with an eastern twist.
Comments Post your comment