Leading decision makers in Cumbria and the North West have signalled their support for a brand new local authority providing all council services across the county.
A series of key organisations have written to Cumbria County Council, publicly stating that they support the One Council, One Vision, One Voice bid for a new unitary authority.
Cumbria Primary Care Trust's Chair Maggie Chadwick and Chief Executive Sue Page welcomed the initiative, saying: "If implemented, the current proposal will improve partnership working in Cumbria, support the delivery of consistently high quality services and help remove inefficiency."
Stephen Dalton, Chief Executive of Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust, also confirmed his support for a single council for the whole of Cumbria, saying: "My Trust's consistent support has been for structures which take a county perspective and avoid fragmentation."
Michael Baxter, Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary, said: "I believe that there is much to commend a single authority for Cumbria and the many efficiencies that could be achieved by a reduction from the present seven to a single authority... The Constabulary is not reluctant to consider structural or operational change or to align itself with local arrangements to ensure that our communities are well served..."
Cumbria Tourism's Executive Board has voted in favour of the concept of a unitary authority for Cumbria. "The Board welcomed the recognition of the importance of tourism in Cumbria in the bid document and agreed that real progress and strategic coherence could be achieved with a Unitary Authority," said Cumbria Tourism's chief executive Ian Stephens.
Ruth Bullen, Director of Area - Cumbria for the Learning and Skills Council, said: "There are significant advantages to be gained by having a single tier of local government in the county and the Learning and Skills Council strongly supports the county council's proposals. The impact of this change on the economic performance of Cumbria is potentially transformational."
The trustees of Voluntary Action Cumbria, the county's rural community council, also confirmed its 'qualified support', saying: "VAC can see considerable advantages in partnership working and better use of resources from having a unitary authority in Cumbria. VAC are very supportive of the approach of having a new authority for the county and want to make clear the view that a fresh start may be the only way to move forward to an effective unitary authority."
The bid, which has now been approved at a Full Council meeting for submission to government, has also been given the thumbs up by the business and regeneration sector.
Bryan Gray, Chairman of the Northwest Regional Development Agency, said his board supports the principle of unitary local government: "The reasons for this are the economic focus and drive such an arrangement would produce and also it simplifies decision making structures for the business community and local communities. Unitary structures also provide the opportunity for greater cohesive community leadership and a greater focus on 'place making', which is a critical theme within the White Paper."
Rob Johnston, chief executive of the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce and Industry, lent his support, saying: "We believe that the Cumbrian economy has seriously suffered through confusion, political infighting and confusing layers of bureaucracy... a single Cumbrian authority provides a tremendous opportunity to work in partnership with the private sector and will contribute to future integration and development of the Cumbrian economy. It is only by working together, as a single county with simple layers of governance, can we overcome the significant challenges and grasp the opportunities that face Cumbria in the future."
The county council's strategic partner Amey also said it was 'strongly convinced' that joined-up delivery of services is the way forward: "Amey supports the unitary approach as the most practicable way of improving the delivery of service to Cumbria's communities and businesses. Most importantly it will enable the provision of a fully seamless approach to the specification and delivery of highways and related services to all the county's residents and businesses."
Andrew Mindenhall, director of the county council's ICT strategic partner gave his full support: "We believe the proposals that have been put forward are compelling and in the best interests of Cumbria and its people."
And John Tizard, group director of strategic partner Capita, said: "We are convinced that this proposal would lead to significant opportunities to improve customer service for the citizens and businesses in Cumbria."
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