Norfolk opposes unitary authorities says opinion poll

Norfolk residents are overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of unitary councils in the county according to a YouGov poll conducted last weekend. 

Asked for their views on the future of local government in Norfolk 60% of those expressing a view said they wanted to keep the existing councils but have them work more closely together, 24% said they wanted to keep the existing councils exactly as they are and just 16% said they favoured the introduction of unitary authorities.

"The fact that 84% of local residents want to keep our current two-tier council system should make the government and the Boundary Committee think twice about even proposing the development of unitary councils in Norfolk. The public have made their views clear. We now call upon the Government / Boundary Committee to accept this independent polling which demonstrates that there is no wide cross section of public support for local Government reorganisation in Norfolk." said Co. John Fuller, leader of South Norfolk Council.

The YouGov poll was commissioned by the five district councils in rural Norfolk that are seeking to persuade the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and the Boundary Committee to allow more time for a proper consultation on the proposals for local government reorganisation in the county. Almost 700 people were polled by YouGov.

And the poll underlined the inadequate consultation that has taken place to date. Over half those polled felt they were not well informed about the issue of local government reorganisation thereby emphasising the need for more consultation.  But the better informed people were the more likely they were to oppose unitary authorities.

Respondents were also asked whether they thought the introduction of unitary authorities would lead to council tax going up or going down. A remarkable 90% of those expressing an opinion said they thought it would lead to higher council taxes while just 10% thought council tax would go down. 48% thought unitary councils would push council tax ‘up a lot’ while just 0.005% (three people out of 700) thought they would push council tax ‘down a lot’.

Asked whether they thought local government reorganisation was an important priority 33% of those expressing a view said they thought it was while 67% thought it wasn’t. But when asked if the impending economic recession made this the best time or the worst time to reorganise local government 88% said it was the worst time. And asked if the uncertainty over council deposits in Icelandic banks made this the best time or the worst time to embark upon local government reorganisation a staggering 92% said it was the worst time.

People were also asked if they thought local services would get better or worse under a unitary council. 70% of people expressing a view said they thought services would get worse.

Asked about the arguments for and against unitary authorities respondents indicated they were not convinced that unitary authorities would deliver better value for money or save money in the long term. They did, however, think unitary authorities would be remote and bureaucratic and would need to cut jobs and services to balance the books.

Speaking on behalf of the district councils that commissioned the poll Co. Nick Daubney, the leader of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, said:

"This poll shows quite clearly that the people of Norfolk are totally opposed to unitary councils in this part of the country. We haven’t been given a say on this matter but we will have to pick up the tab. And it’s going to be a very big tab indeed. Nine out ten people think local government reorganisation will lead to higher council taxes and they are, of course, right."

"Last week in the High Court Mr Justice Cranston urged the Boundary Committee to take into account the fact that they had not given enough time for consultation. They must now wake up and recognise that they cannot simply railroad these proposals through."