Rutland County Council along with Leicestershire's seven borough and district councils has issued a joint statement saying they do not support Leicestershire County Council's plans to continue with one large unitary authority for the county and that residents deserve better in the upcoming local government reorganisation.
In a change to their previous announcements, Leicestershire has not included Rutland in these plans. The smaller councils say they've had no discussion with County Hall, that the current system isn't broken and that they'll work together to press ahead with proposals for smaller authorities, saying a large authority for the whole county will be too remote and inefficient. The government want unitary authorities of at least 350,000 population. This will create an authority of around 800,000 and Rutland is urged to work with Leicestershire as Whitehall sees the new larger councils mirroring police and fire. MP Alicia Kearns says the government may still expect Rutland to join Leicestershire even if the county council don't want us as they want to see an end to small unitary authorities.
The Save Rutland petition is now available in a dozen pubs calling for protection to Rutland's ceremonial county status, which could easily be lost in any merger.
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A Ceremony of Carols in Stamford
