County keen on going solo; Labour group favours single council option.Byline: By Neil McKay DURHAM County Durham County has several possible meanings:
Members of the authority's controlling Labour group have agreed to pursue the single all-purpose council option which would mean the abolition of seven district councils in the county -Chester-le-Street, Derwentside, Durham City Durham City could be:
Their decision follows last month's publication of the Local Government White Paper, which invited councils in shire areas either to bid for unitary status, in which services are provided by single all-purpose authorities, or an enhanced version of the existing two-tier system The two-tier system, in the context of labor relations, is a type of contract employed by companies to scale back negotiated wages and benefits. When a two-tier system is in place in a new contract, workers hired before ratification of that contract have a wage progression , where people receive services from county councils working alongside district or borough councils. County council leader Albert Nugent said he and his colleagues had looked long and hard at the options presented in the White Paper. But the districts are expected to fight the plans, with one council leader last night saying he wanted to retain a two-tier option. Coun Nugent added: "Although the county council has a long-standing commitment to pursue a single unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of for County Durham “Durham county” redirects here. For other uses, see Durham County. County Durham is a county in north-east England. It can be used to refer to 4 different entities:
"It has been a tough decision, but as far as we are concerned, the driving force behind today's decision is what we believe is going to be best for County Durham and the people who live and work here." The last time the pattern of councils was reviewed was during the regional government referendum of 2004, when local authority leaders had different views on what would be the best unitary council structure for County Durham. The county council favoured one unitary authority whereas the district councils favoured splitting the county into three. Two years ago Labour-run county and district councils engaged in a war of words over the issue, but Coun Nugent pledged: "One thing will be different to events in 2004. The county council will not engage in criticism of our colleagues in the county's seven district councils. "This is a debate about all-new council arrangements for the future, not a county council takeover of district councils." But Alex Watson, leader of Derwentside District Council, said: "At Derwentside, we have not yet made a formal submission, but I personally would favour an enhanced two-tier system where we work more closely with the county, and where certain services are no longer duplicated. That would save an estimated pounds 50m a year. "People have discovered in the past that big is not always beautiful." |
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