Is ‘Enhanced 2-Tier Status’ the Answer for Local Government in West Sussex?

The ‘Local Government Bill’ is currently going through Parliament.  It aims to place more power at local level and give people a bigger say in how local services are run.  It also gives shire counties the opportunity to apply for Unitary status.

Westminster

However, West Sussex County Council believe that amalgamating all the District Councils into one Unitary Authority would give central government even more control and would result in less democracy locally.

Another option is to submit a ‘pathfinder’ bid.  This would greatly enhance the structure of local government but due to time constraints (plans have to be submitted by 25th January) and the fact that it would take those involved away from their day jobs, a bid couldn’t be put together in time.

Instead the County Council have chosen to submit their own plan:  ‘The West Sussex Way.’

Currently West Sussex has a two tier structure of local government.  This involves the County Council sharing responsibility for different services with the other District Councils within the county.  As a result the public find it hard to know who’s accountable for what.  That leads to the unasnswerability of local government.

‘The West Sussex Way’ takes the current two tier structure and enhances it.

But how is an ‘Enhanced Two Tier System’ of local government going to improve things for people in West Sussex?

Click the link to hear my conversation with:  The Leader of West Sussex County Council, Henry Smith.