Peers fail in plea to delay the split-up of Cheshire

Feb 22 2008 by Rob Merrick, Liverpool Daily Post

VITAL council services -– including child protection – will suffer unless the hotly-fought plan to sweep away Cheshire’s local government structure is put on hold, the government was told yesterday.

A committee of peers made a surprise last-gasp plea for ministers to delay creating two all-purpose unitary authorities in the west and east of the county because of the scale of opposition.

Setting up the new authorities in just 15 months did not allow sufficient time to ensure a smooth transition in services such as child protection and adult care, the House of Lords merits committee warned.

The challenge is highly unusual, because the committee has given the green light to similar shake-ups in Cornwall, County Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire.

Furthermore, past criticism by so-called “statutory instrument” committees has triggered government rethinks over home information packs and casinos. But, within two hours of the report being published, the government announced it would press ahead with pushing an order to create Cheshire’s unitaries through the Commons on Tuesday and the Lords a week later.

A spokesman said: “We will be moving to approve the order on Cheshire and it is up to Parliament whether to approve.”

Yesterday, Crewe and Nantwich MP Gwyneth Dunwoody, the fiercest critic of the council shake-up, urged ministers to listen to the peers and admit they were wrong.

The veteran backbencher said: “Any decision that allows us time to sort out this chaos would be more than welcome. It seems some spirit of madness has taken control of the department.”

“We have the absurdity of people who are now doing a very good job in special needs and care for the elderly preparing to split up, before having to reapply for their jobs and then work together again.”

Just before Christmas, it was confirmed that Cheshire County Council and six borough councils will disappear in April 2009, a move first signalled last July.

Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich and Macclesfield boroughs will merge to create East Cheshire council, with Chester, Vale Royal and Ellesmere Port and Neston councils brought together to make up the West Cheshire authority.

The county council, plus Chester, Congleton and Crewe and Nantwich have all argued the timetable is too tight and risks damaging services.

Yesterday’s report reveals that former independent MP Martin Bell, who famously won Tatton in 1997, has added his voice to the protests, warning about the impact on schools.

The peers concluded: “What emerges from the comments received is that there is a clear division of views among the local authorities themselves who will, of necessity, be the motors of the proposed restructuring.

“We recognise that creating two new authorities to run some of the most complex services, must pose particular challenges.”