THE leader of Essex County Council has said it has “succeeded in curtailing the Government's plans” with its legal challenge against local government reorganisation.
Under the proposals, Essex County Council and the county’s district councils would have been abolished, with five new unitary authorities instead created and each responsible for all local services in its area.
Supporters said the change would make local government simpler. Opponents warned it could be costly and disruptive. The programme was being led by the government.
On Monday, the government announced it had scrapped all plans to reorganise Essex councils following new legal advice.
Essex County Council leader Peter Harris said: “This unwanted, unnecessary and financially unhinged reorganisation of Essex’s councils is over.
“At lunchtime [on Monday] we received a letter from the government lawyers telling us that, facing a judicial review brought by Essex County Council, they have caved in.
“Thanks to us being the first to stand up to the government, we’ve succeeded in saving local taxpayers millions in spending that would have delivered a new system of councils which the government have admitted, as a result of today’s announcement, was wrong.
“We were not against change, but we were against the government's plan for five new councils.
“Now we've succeeded in curtailing the government's plans, we can now get back to what residents elected us to do – reforming Essex, providing the best possible services at the lowest possible cost.”
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Mr Harris previously said he was against spending more than £100million on the reorganisation, suggesting the money would be better spent on frontline support for Essex residents.
He instead called for investment in services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
He proposed expanding specialist provision and reducing assessment backlogs, including the creation of more specialist SEND ‘pods’ attached to schools to reduce travel times for families.
Resources earmarked for reorganisation, he argued, should instead go to vulnerable residents, including children’s and adult social care.
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