SUFFOLK LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION

PART 1: MAYOR

The Government has decided that Suffolk and Norfolk will have 1 Mayor to represent us all.
The Mayor will have some devolved powers, such as economic and transport strategy,
strategic and health provision, police and fire services. We will elect a new Mayor in May
2026.

PART 2: LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATON, UNITARY COUNCILS FOR ALL

=n a second initiative the Government has decided that all councils will be unitary councils.
For East Bergholt this means that instead of 2 separate councils we will be served by 1
unitary council which provides all of our local services, eg: adult and children’s social care,
education, highways, planning, environment, waste management, leisure services, economic
developments. We expect to begin to elect these unitary councils in May 2027.

The Government wants all local councils to propose the boundaries for local councils and to
consult residents.

The current statistics show that there is. Population of around 770,000. The current number
of councillors at county and district level are 308 councillors, that is 75 at county council
level and 233 at district council levels. This means that at:
• county level we have approximately 10,250 people per council
• district level we have approximately 3,300 people per councillor
This may explain why we have more a responsive service from our district councillors.

=n Suffolk the combined District Councils hold two opposing views:

Suffolk County Council has proposed 1 council for the whole of Suffolk County.

SCC say that one council will save money in administration and that they already provide the
big services such as adult and children’s social care, education, SEND education, :ighways
and local economic development (though a part of these responsibilities will be devolved
upwards to the Mayor. SCC conclude that 1 unitary council will save money.

The implications for our local influence however is likely to diminish.
• Currently there are 75 councillors for SCC who represents approximately 7000 people
each.
• SCC proposal suggests 90-140 councillors for one Suffolk unitary council. The current
biggest council in England, Birmingham, has 101 councillors. The next biggest council
is Kent County Council with 81 councillors. We might therefore assume the number
will be below the average to manage its business effectively. =f we assume the new
unitary council has 100 councillors, that would make our local representation
approximately 7,700 per councillor.

District Councils are proposing either 2 or 3 councils for Suffolk.
They will not make up their mind on 2 or 3 until they hear the results of the survey of local
residents

The District councils say that the new unitary councils need to represent local people and
that by creating smaller councils they will be more responsive to local needs and
requirements.

The proposal for 2 unitary councils divides Suffolk in half, that is into West and East Suffolk,
with a line down the middle following parish boundaries. =n other words Mid Suffolk and
Babergh Districts would be split in half north to south. East Bergholt would be in East Suffolk.
The districts say that the new unitary councils would be closer to the issues locally.
• Each unitary would have a population of roughly 385,000 and approximately 80
councillors representing 4,800 people each.

The proposal for 3 unitary councils would split roughly : West Suffolk around Bury St
Edmunds; East Suffolk around Lowestoft, the coast and perhaps Woodbridge; Greater
=pswich which would include Felixstowe and the Shotley peninsula to an area west of the
A12. East Bergholt would lie in the Greater =pswich area. The districts say that these areas
would concentrate on the economic potential of =pswich/Felixstowe and the connections of
Bury St Edmunds to Cambridgeshire and Lowestoft to Norfolk.
• Each unitary council would have a population of approximately 266000 and
approximately 60 councillors representing 4,450 people each.

Both the district and county councils are asking our views on what a new unitary council
should look like and what we prioritise.

The county council is undertaking 3 face-to-face and 3 virtual consultation sessions in our
district area.
The district council is undertaking 3 virtual and over 40 face-to-face consultations in our
district area.
They are both running an on-line survey seeking your views.

EBPC was invited to face-to-face session in Hadleigh and a face-to-face session in East
Bergholt. Annex 1: John Price’s summary of this meeting is attached. Also attached is
Annex 2: John’s summary of some of the principles which we found helpful in assessing
these options before us.

Recommendation
EBPC councillors are asked to assess which option (1,2,or 3) best suits the local
representation and influence of East Bergholt residents on the new unitary council.

Joan Miller
Chair East Bergholt Parish Council
2.7.25

Annex 1, Summary by John Price:

On the Subject of Local Government Re-organisation, an interesting meeting on
Monday 23
rd
June.

Our guests were Arthur Charvonia, Chief Executive of Babergh (& Mid Suffolk) District
Council and Sara Wilcock, Director of Corporate Services, also of Babergh (& Mid
Suffolk) DC.
From the parish, Councillors Joan Miller, Nigel Roberts, Sallie Davies and John Price,
ably assisted by our Clerk, Graham White all played the role of hosts.
Norfolk and Suffolk Mayor.
We heard that the system for the proposed Mayor’s office will be in place by February
2026 with the actual Mayor elected three months later during the month of May. This will
be an extra layer of administration but the government do not see the office of the Mayor
as part of local government. There will be regular forums consisting of the Mayors of
England and the government, presumably intended to improve communications and
feedback between the government and local authorities.
The new Mayor will be able to appoint Commissioners, each with an area of
responsibility. One such area will be policing because the existing elected police
commissioner’s office will be abolished and the duties transferred to the new Mayor’s
office.
The Mayor will have a budget to enable him/her to spend directly and the Mayor will also
be able to influence the budgets of the various councils.
Local plans currently have to follow national guidelines, in future these plans will also
need to comply with the Mayors plans. It can be seen that the Mayor will have
considerable scope to direct and shape the policy and practices of the future councils.
Local Government Re-organisation
In respect of the Government’s instructions to form Unitary Councils, We have seen
draft proposals from Suffolk County Council (SCC), Ipswich Borough Council and
Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils.
• SCC wishes to have a single unitary council covering the whole of Suffolk (pop
776k).
• Ipswich BC wishes to create an enlarged Greater Ipswich which would include
East Bergholt (pop 262k)
• Babergh and Mid Suffolk DCs are unsure whether to promote two or three unitary
councils to cover the whole of Suffolk.
• Other district councils and borough councils seem to favour the idea of three
unitary councils.
If SCC wins the day and we have just a single unitary council in Suffolk, they expect
there to be between 120 and 150 councillors in the single council. Contrast this with the
government’s advice that councils should not exceed 100 members. Babergh and Mid
Suffolk are considering the numbers of electors that each councillor should have and
seem to favour a figure of about 4500 electors per councillor. It was estimated that we
have around 300 councillors in the District Councils in Suffolk at present.

Each senior council (not parish or town councils) will be permitted to submit only one
idea to the government for the organisational structure of councils in Suffolk. Clearly if
councils agree on the structure, their arguments will carry more weight.
For interest Norfolk CC, like SCC, hopes that there will be just a single unitary council in
Norfolk, whilst most of the District and Borough Councils in Norfolk are looking to see
three unitary councils except for South Norfolk DC, which hopes for two unitary
councils.
Arthur Charvonia was sensitive to and aware that some council services are best
shared between councils to benefit from scale, whilst other council services should
feature as a local approach in a local council. He acknowledged the problem that the
customer is not properly represented for services such as highway maintenance.
What does East Bergholt Want?
The feeling was against a single huge council. Representation in the current SCC is
poor, it is difficult to get to speak to people and get things done. It might be even worse
in a single enlarged unitary SCC. Our current County Councillor is overworked and is
thinking about giving up.
The feeling was very much against a greater Ipswich Council encompassing East
Bergholt. It is believed that Ipswich would solve its own housing problems by making
villages such as East Bergholt into suburbs of Ipswich with large new housing estates.
If we are to keep to existing local government administration boundaries, it is difficult to
find a three unitary council option that does not give East Bergholt to Ipswich. The only
three council option that keeps East Bergholt rural is 1, Mid Suffolk and Babergh
combining (pop 204k), 2, Ipswich and East Suffolk combining (pop 386k) and 3, West
Suffolk remaining (pop 186k). However these populations are far from the government’s
ideal of 500k.
Perhaps the best option for East Bergholt is to encourage a two unitary council option
consisting of 1, West Suffolk, Mid Suffolk and Babergh (pop 390k) and 2, Ipswich and
east Suffolk (pop 386K). This would help keep the rural nature of East Bergholt, but the
resulting councils would be big councils and representation would still be an issue.
However the population figures are probably the closest to the government’s
recommendations that could be achieved. Each with a 100k provision for expansion.
Thoughts after the meeting
How might we advise those who will make the decisions?
We might stress the importance of not only protecting the recognised natural landscape
of the Stour Valley, but also the farming land either side that is needed to provide
necessary support for the natural recognised landscape. It is valuable as it is for its own
right, food production, wildlife etc., but also things like the dark skies policy cannot
work without the surrounding farmland.
Can we use the spaces and scenes that Constable Painted? I believe the present
Government intends to dismiss historic connections when considering planning
matters and may do so for LG re-organisation. However such things may carry weight
within Suffolk.
We should stress that developing along the strategic roads such as the A14, A12 will
only cause local traffic to use the strategic roads for local journeys, thereby negating the
purpose of the strategic roads, causing congestion and seriously damaging the
commercial environment and viability of the port of Felixstowe for example.

Probably the only long term solution is new settlements connected by new distribution
roads. Such settlements should be created away from existing settlements. Arthur
Charvonia also believes in the benefit of new settlements to help relieve the problems
facing existing communities.
Perhaps the new unitary councils could help by moving out of Ipswich, thereby reducing
the housing shortage in Ipswich and becoming the first tenants of a new settlement.

Annex 2, some suggested thoughts on principles for assessing the size of new
unitary council by John Price

Local government re-organisation.
1, Principle The organisation should reflect good governance needs, in preference to
political control
Local government is a service provider and the needs of the customer
should be paramount.

2. Using highway management as an example (other services probably have the same
sort of issues).
At present The County Council is the prosecutor, judge, jury and recorder when it comes
to highway matters. The road user actually owns the road, but he/she has no say just
ever increasing demands for money and a continuing decline in service. The Parish
Council has no say, we can apply a tiny bit of pressure, we are supposed to be
representing our parish residents, but we find this difficult in the environment created
by the County Council.
The County Council does its best to restrict access through its website. It is inclined to
ignore other approaches.
Typically

3, Suffolk County Council proposes a single unitary council for the whole of the County.
It does not welcome communication at present and if other services became as remote
as those provided by the existing County Council, then we will get less representation
not more.
SCC argues that they will achieve efficiencies of scale. It would be prudent not argue
against this. Let there be a highway authority for the whole of Suffolk County to take
advantage of scale, but look at the governance. Let the political decisions be taken at
the lowest possible level. That level will be as close to the people that can be achieved.
Let the customer order the works even though the provider remains county wide.
So suppose in the future, we have some pot holes or a road needs resurfacing, we are
assuming that the road users are complaining to the local council, say the Parish
Council. The Parish council asks the Liaison Engineer (yes we do have one of those)
what can and needs to be done, but then it could be the Parish Council that orders the
necessary works from the Highway Authority and pays for these from its own precept.
What does this mean?
A, The County Council wins its argument for economies of scale
Reports from
residents asking for
something to be done
Highway Authority investigates
i.e. picks measures to avoid
expenditure
1, Problem does not meet to
intervention requirements
2, Risk assessment shows issue is
minor and we do not see anything
changing in the foreseeable future
3, We do not have funds for that at
present
4, All funds for highway improvements
have been allocated

B, Political control is removed from the County Council but the services that are best
provided on a county wide basis remain as an in house technical service.
C, The ability to raise precept monies is transferred to the new unitary councils and to
borough, town and parish councils.
D, Powers to order services from the County services is passed to the lowest practical
council.
Let us note the legal department run by the County Council
County Councils have a legal service department, but they restrict their advice to
members and officers of the County Council. We have a family of councils, shouldn’t
such services be available to the whole family (but perhaps restricted to advice
pertaining to the statutory powers and duties of the respective council). Advice given to
one council about matters raised by another should surely be shared otherwise we are
not a family!
Now about possible Unitary Councils?
Ipswich wishes to grow into a “Greater Ipswich”, stating that this will provide more
scope for housing needs. It would, but only by making some rural villages into suburbs
of Ipswich. This will certainly not be wanted by those rural villages.
If Ipswich does not have the scope to provide for large amounts of housing it should not
be expected to do so, any more than a rural village should not have housing estates
forced on the village. We are supposed to live in a democracy. Democracy means
determined by the people, not by the councils, who merely act for the people.
Let us have a principle of to protect rural villages and not to allow them to become
an urban environments.
We have local neighbourhood plans, and local plans, we can count up the house
numbers these plans provide for and if there is a shortfall for the county requirements
and this cannot be met by slotting in a new town or some new villages, then we perhaps
we could pro-rata increase the numbers in the local plans/neighbourhood plans. We
should ensure we keep the local plans in place and not just set them aside as has
happened in the past. In this way we will work together and Ipswich will not need to
destroy communities.
How many unitary authorities will we need to satisfy the Government? It seems it
should be one but we already have issues with the size of SCC, could we get approval
for two or three in spite of the “population numbers” required by the government. In
deciding the size and format of the new councils, let us make the decision on principles
for good governance and not just on politics. Perhaps the following three principles;
• Doing no harm to communities
• Meeting good governance needs for the services that will be provided
• Passing power down to the lowest practical level to allow the customer to act as
a customer.
To recap
We should not try and decide local issues at a County level, local matters are best
decided at a local level. A Unitary Council must not become another County Council. It
will need to make room to take more powers from the Government and pass what it can
down to Borough, Town and Parish Councils.