An 11th-hour amendment tabled by council leader Bill Brooks called for both options to go foreward

An 11th-hour amendment tabled by council leader Bill Brooks called for both options to be submitted for Government scrutiny, with ministers asked to decide which one they feel is best for the future of Northumberland



By Dave Black, The Journal







Labour leaders of Northumberland County Council were last night accused of "passing the buck" after averting a potential defeat in a key vote on the controversial issue of local government reform.

Opposition councillors attacked them for cobbling together a last-minute compromise deal in order to head off a possible rebellion by their own members over backing for a single "super council" to run the county.

An extraordinary meeting of the county council agreed to submit two rival bids to the Government - one for a single unitary council and the other for two unitaries along urban and rural lines as recommended by the six district councils.

It means the county council is not expressing a preference for either option - a move seen by opposition councillors as a major climbdown from the Labour leadership's original recommendation to call for a single unitary.

An 11th-hour amendment tabled by council leader Bill Brooks called for both options to be submitted for Government scrutiny, with ministers asked to decide which one they feel is best for the future of Northumberland.

The compromise was aimed at winning the support of a number of Labour county councillors who are known to be supporters of two new unitary councils, one for Blyth Valley and Wansbeck and the other for the four rural districts.

The Journal revealed last week how Labour councillors were threatened with suspension from the ruling group if they failed to support the leadership's call for a single unitary.

Last night opposition councillors condemned the compromise move as "a sop to a damaged administration" and claimed it smacked of desperation.

The Labour leadership's original recommendation to yesterday's meeting was for the county council to "endorse the case for a single unitary council".

Independent councillor Gordon Castle said: "The amendment is an attempt to have our cake and eat it when what we need is clarity. We are being asked to give our clear endorsement to one option or the other. The only option in the best interest of Northumberland is the two unitary one and we should say so unequivocally."

Fellow Independent Jeff Watson said: "We are trying to pass the buck here by putting forward two options. We are saying we are not sure what we are doing by passing it to the Government."

Northumberland's six district councils are meeting this week to finalise agreement on submitting their joint bid for two unitary councils to the Government. Coun Brooks said he remains convinced that a single unitary council is best for Northumberland under local government reform, but the Government needed to see all of the alternative proposals.

"I have no fear of both submissions going forward to central Government. The White Paper doesn't make any provision for a referendum on this, but it does say the Government will consult stakeholders. I want to take as much heat out of the situation as possible. If we are going to make radical change in Northumberland it has to be the right radical change."

Yesterday's meeting rejected an amendment by the Liberal Democrat group that both rival submissions should go forward, with the county council expressing a "preference" for two unitary councils. It also rejected a notice of motion by Tory and Independent group leader Alex Kerr for the council not to support a bid for a single super council.