Six councils hit back over Reform leader's claim that county was 'hardly involved' in boundary survey

A DISPUTE has broken out between councils across Nottinghamshire over plans to redraw boundaries and create two new local authorities.

- By JOE LOCKER Local democracy reporter

Nottinghamshire County Council leader Mick Barton (Ref) shared a video statement on social media stating the authority had "hardly" been involved in a public consultation exercise over council shakeup plans.

However, a separate group involving several other councils has hit back and said his statement was not true, with all nine councils involved in the process and Councillor Barton having chaired the meeting during which the consultation process was agreed.

The Labour government's proposal to reorganise local councils, introduced last December, has been contentious from the start.

The Government has argued it could "create more efficient and effective local government", streamlining services and making cost savings for residents at a time when many councils have been going effectively bankrupt due to soaring service demand, over a decade of austerity-led funding cuts, and inflated costs.

Concerns have been raised about some boroughs and districts joining the city due to its past financial woes, but city leaders say the situation has since vastly improved.

Councils across the city and county have been discussing their preferred options over the last few months, with plans to submit these to the Government by November for review.

An independently run six-week survey recently asked residents for their thoughts on two preferred core options: option 1b and option le.

Option 1b would see a new unitary authority created combining Nottingham, Broxtowe, and Gedling, with a second new unitary authority for the rest of Nottinghamshire; Mansfield, Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, Bassetlaw and Rushcliffe.