The Isle of Wight Council spent almost £34,000 on consultancy work linked to controversial local government reorganisation plans which have now been withdrawn by the government.
Figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) show County Hall spent £33,830.57 on activity connected to local government reorganisation (LGR).
The entire amount was spent on consultancy work relating to the proposed plans.
The Isle of Wight was set to retain its existing status as a standalone unitary authority under the proposals, while councils across Hampshire were preparing for a major restructure into 4 larger authorities.
The plans were thrown into uncertainty on Monday (7th September) when Communities Secretary Angela Rayner withdrew the government’s previous approval for the Hampshire reorganisation following new legal advice. This sparked concern from Joe Robertson earlier this week, but council leader Jonathan Bacon has said the halt will have no impact on the Isle of Wight.
Councils across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight had already spent months committing staff time, resources and money to preparing for the changes.
Last year, work carried out by consultants KPMG estimated indicative one-off implementation costs for LGR across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight at £133million.
Hampshire County Council subsequently suggested in May that implementation would cost between £80million and £132million.
Former Secretary of State Steve Reed had said each new unitary authority would be entitled to £900,000 to help with transition costs, although the overall costs of restructuring were expected to be considerably higher and met from councils’ own resources.
Following the government’s decision, the LDRS contacted all 15 councils involved in the process across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to establish how much had already been spent preparing for LGR.
Of the 7 authorities which responded, the Isle of Wight Council was the only one to provide a specific data relatiing to the financial cost of the LGR.
Other authorities said significant resources had been committed to the process, including staff and councillor time and external support, but did not provide an overall cost.
Southampton City Council had previously approved the recruitment of 17 roles to prepare for reorganisation, carrying combined salaries of £879,933, funded from a £3.5million LGR reserve.
Councils involved in the Hampshire reorganisation are now awaiting the outcome of the government’s review before considering what happens next.
So will the people that live on the island that have contributed to council tax get a rebate for their incompetency?? Yeah right.
So easy when you are spending tax payers money.
I have always wondered how many public sector workers
would get a job in the private sector
My play your cards answer is 15% if that!
This report states the following facts.
“Councils across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight had already spent months committing staff time, resources and money to preparing for the changes.
KPMG estimated indicative one-off implementation costs for LGR across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight at £133million.
Former Secretary of State Steve Reed had said each new unitary authority would be entitled to £900,000 to help with transition costs”.
£900,000 towards an estimated outlay of £133million??? You are too kind!
Where will the remaining £132,100,000 come from? Compel every man woman and child to “donate” £5 each?
Now our hypocritical, incompetent, Liebore Government who wish to extend the State interference even further into our daily lives, have cancelled the whole thing.
Make no mistake, Labour Lite – AKA the Lying Bastards Conservative Party, would probably have done the same as there is no money left in the system.
It’s about time all those on benefits more than a workman brings home coughed up something towards the revenue of the place, watch the do gooders gripe at this
34k of our money blown. Don’t bother sending me a voting card will you
I gave up voting 6 years ago, load of useless numpties
none of them represent us, never will do and never did.
“The Isle of Wight was set to retain its existing status as a standalone unitary authority under the proposals, while councils across Hampshire were preparing for a major restructure into 4 larger authorities.”
Every council or unitary authority was expected to comply. Statutory duties as opposed to discretionary.
And it still is standalone, in spite of the reorganisation being put on hold. Nothing whatsoever has changed for us, and there was nothing we could have done about the costs to support our argument. Hardly a waste then was it? Those arguments still stand.
But of course we should all realise that some politicos don’t like councils having to spend money at all, or that people should pay taxes in order for them to do so and are desperate to seek out and highlight what they consider to be ‘waste’. Trouble is…that definition of waste will grow and grow.
I know, lets see if we can get financial backing from some convicted fraudster illegally. They seem to be the only ones with money these days.
We should all refuse to pay a months council tax. They don’t care a shit do they, some other mug’s money again squandered that we could have used for ourselves