When I first agreed to stand for Babergh it was thought very likely that I would not actually serve a full four years as a Councillor because the Government was calling for all areas to abandon the County Council/District Council pattern. Councils were to be rearranged as larger, ‘unitary’ councils which would undertake the services performed by both tiers of government. The Government then changed its mind (I know that you find this hard to believe!!!), and by the time the election came it was clear that Babergh would probably survive for at least a further four years. Babergh were however signed up to the idea of ‘Pathfinder’ whereby it was committed to trying to save money by sharing services with other authorities, and indeed it was looking very likely that a full merger with another District Council such as Mid Suffolk or St. Edmundsbury was a real possibility.
Well all bets are off now. Hazel Blears has spoken: pathfinder has been halted and Ipswich Borough Council has been told to get back into its box and abandon all ideas of unitary status within its current boundaries. It seems that the most likely outcome now is two unitary authorities for
Objectively, although it goes against the grain to say so, one must congratulate Ms. Blears for this change of heart. There are far too many councillors, a lot of duplication of cost in the current system, and some very strange division of labour (for example the County Council does the roads but Babergh does the road signs!).
I’m not at all sure what this all means for the future political career of yours truly. However, coming from the City I am used to uncertainty. I narrowly escaped being a part of Merrill Lynch’s takeover of Smith New Court in the late 1990’s, leaving Merrill Lynch a week before the announcement that would probably have meant the loss of my lovely office with view of St. Pauls and a new life in a snake pit that contained some of the more exotic reptiles in the City. The thing is to carry on as normal and do one’s best…it ain’t over until it’s over.
P.S. I couldn’t bring myself to put a picture of Hazel Blears on my blog. Instead I have posted a picture of Bury St Edmunds…where we may all be paying our Council Tax in the future.
