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Council Leader urges residents to warn the government against damaging council reforms
Just before Christmas, the UK government published their plans to restructure local government in England.
In Leicestershire, this could see all current councils scrapped and replaced by one large council.
Leicestershire County Council have asked the government to cancel upcoming county elections in May, with a view to fast-tracking local government reform in Leicestershire and Rutland creating one large unitary council around the whole of the city. This move was made without consulting or giving notice to district and borough council leaders.
Residents are being urged to email Jim McMahon MP, the government minister responsible for local government, with a clear message about the plans.
Cllr Stuart Bray, Leader of Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council, said: “The government are preparing to impose a large, remote and inaccessible super-council on the people of Leicestershire without consulting them first. It is important that Mr. McMahon hears the voices of our residents, who will be heavily affected by the proposed changes.
“The message central government needs to hear is simple: keep the ‘local’ in local government, keep decision-making in the hands of local people and do not cancel the county elections in May.”
He added: “Borough and district councils are best placed to serve their residents. They are deeply embedded within local communities and are in tune with what the area and its people need.
“The people of Hinckley and Bosworth have a powerful voice and must use it to stop local decision-making being taken further away from them."
Please let your views be known to the Minister of State for Local Government at jim.mcmahon.mp@parliament.uk
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