Newcastle wants to go it alone in shake-up of councils

It wants to operate separately from city and other parts of county despite its size

- Phil Corrigan Local Democracy Reporter

NEWCASTLE would have its own unitary authority under new proposals to reorganise Staffordshire's councils.

Leaders at Newcastle Borough Council say they are still opposed to the government's 'forced' overhaul of local authorities, believing that Staffordshire’s current two-tier system works well.

But they say that if local government reorganisation (LGR) does happen, Newcastle should have its own unitary council, separate from Stoke-on-Trent and other parts of the county.

At the moment, some council services in Newcastle, including bin collections, are delivered by the borough, while others, such as social care and highways, are delivered on a Staffordshire-wide basis by the county council.

Under the borough council’s preferred option, all these services would be provided by a single unitary serving Newcastle's 128,000 residents.

A council report acknowledges that this population size falls 'some way below' the population target of 500,000 for new unitaries, set by the government.

But it says that some existing unitaries such as Rutland are even smaller, and that Newcastle borough has a 'cohesive geography'.