A motion encouraging the Isle of Wight Council’s leadership not to rule out a merger with mainland authorities has been tabled for a crunch meeting this week.
Councillor Geoff Brodie said merging the Island’s unitary authority would ‘produce economies of scale’ and stressed the ‘vast majority of residents’ do not care who their local authority is as long as it provides ‘good or better public services’.
Cllr Brodie set his request against a stark backdrop of an ‘increasingly desperate financial situation’ resulting from ‘14 years of reductions in government support’.
The motion reads:
“Full council recognises the wishes of many residents to have an independent local authority. With relatively low levels of business rates and a large, older community often very dependent on adult social care services, the Isle of Wight Council’s future prospects are not good. ‘Bankruptcy’ looms.
“Therefore, full council encourages the council leadership in its discussions about local government reorganisation with its Hampshire and Solent partners, not to rule out the possibility of a merger with mainland authorities. Particularly the two cities, Portsmouth and Southampton and their neighbours.”
The Pan and Barton representative said this morning (Monday):
“The council’s finances are in a progressively worsening state. General reserves are falling and adult social care costs are going through the roof. Without far more generous support from the government I would be surprised if the director of finance is not declaring what is in effect ‘bankruptcy’ within the next five years, with services further deteriorating or being cut entirely.
Article continues below this advertisement “The only solution is a merger with a mainland authority that has better business rates, less of a demand on adult social care services and which will help deliver economies of scale.”
Local government reorganisation, which featured in the government’s contentious English Devolution White Paper in December, is a divisive issue in Island politics.
On Saturday, demonstrators assembled outside County Hall to protest against the Isle of Wight Council being merged into a Mayoral Combined Authority including Hampshire.
Isle of Wight East MP Joe Robertson (Conservative) spearheaded the demonstration and told the press that with ’93 per cent of voters’ living in Hampshire and only 7% on the Island, a future combined authority mayor’s priorities would likely favour the mainland.
And what will councilors on the mainland know about the special needs of an island?
Or more to the point care?
Much more than the useless Island Councillors
We have crap ferry services, extortionate ferry fares.
We pay one of the most expensive Council taxes in the
country, we pay the most expensive green waste charges
in the country.
We pay £2 to park along seafronts at night and 50p
charges to use public toilets.
Give me an educated mainland councillor anyday.
The lot we have on the island are useless and clueless.
Our children have no future on the island the way it is.
Let Islanders have a vote what they want.
I am for Devolution.
The only special needs this island requires is a complete organ transplant.
It is about time the island became part of
2025 Britain.
IW is the most undiverse part of the UK!
Time for change.
The last thing the Island needs is to become part of 2025 Britain, the mainland is going to the dogs. As for wanting more Diversity, you cannot be serious. Go to some areas of the mainland and you would not know you were in England. With a dictator mayor in the offing, the Island could be chosen as somewhere off-shore to dump half the world coming our way courtesy of government, RNLI etc.
“‘vast majority of residents’ do not care who their local authority is as long as it provides ‘good or better public services”
And why, exactly, would being lumped in with a mainland authority do anything to improve services on the Isle of Wight?
The Isle of Wight definately has different needs (e.g top-heavy aging population, and social depravation) than most mainland authority areas, and if anything needs extra / higher funding because of it.
on our own, with enough pressure from our MPs, we may get some sort of special consideration. Lump us in with some affluent mainaln aread, and there will be no chance what so ever.
Yes, a merger may have some economies of scale, (but only in management terms, not in care-worker terms), but as a minority of the population, the IoW would definately not be getting priority consideration.
The island relies on the mainland for decent
Healthcare, where would Islanders be without
Pompey and Soton Hospitals.
Devolution will be great for the island.
Who are you? Russian?!?
Nothing wrong with Russians, don’t believe
all the state controlled media you are being
fed.
Please go brodie,you do not represent islanders,and i suppose you will vote another council tax hike in wont you?
wages dont,and havent gone up,but i bet this year you will vote in a pay and allowance rise wont you?
our council tax is ridiculous and not value for money,mine will go up to over £2000 even with single person discount
but as all you utter pillocks are not being voted out this year,i will hold on to my council tax,as iam not paying a penny to an unelected so called council
Council tax and green waste charges are much
cheaper on the mainland.
Devolution is needed for the island.
Why would joining mainland councils that are in even worse financial circumstances possibly benefit the Island. What we need is to become a strong unitary authority with appropriate funding that reflects our island status. To achieve this we need new elections resulting in councillors who are passionate about the island and not about themselves. Strong leadership and minimal or zero party politics. Councillors who are elected on skills, experience and qualifications not party allegiance. I say this in the hope that some may read it and start putting pressure on those that need pressuring. Our current local government system has been dysfunctional for too long and the time for change is long overdue. Becoming a mere afterthought in the Hampshire/Solent system would be entirely detrimental to us.
The island is not the place it use too be,
devolution would change that.
Bring it on.
I don’t envy the councillors its a tricky one dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t
Absolutely the best option for the island and especially islanders. Unless this happens, the younger people will simply bleed away onto the mainland, leaving an increasingly old, infirm and disabled population with increasingly poor infrastructure . In short the island will effectively die.
The island is sadly dying, so many businesses are
closing, where will the jobs be for our children and
their children.
Many will have to move off the island to seek
employment.
The crux of this issue is where will the money be directed. Instinctively one feels that Island will do less well because we re a small part of the total population of the proposed merged council. However, the reality is that 85% of local authority spending is on children and vulnerable adlts and is determined by statute – council’s don’t have a choice whether to provide these services. Given the demographic, logic dictates that the Island is likely to be a net gainer in a merger and that the mainland will, in fact, be subsidising services on the Island which would otherwise have to be funded by higher coucil taxes here.
I think a half decent cull or review of the people that review the review of the review will find the money Mr Brodie. The Council is managed by people who in many cases don’t live on the Island, and are not in offices daily, and if they are managing]g are taking days off for various illnesses or training events which seems to be another favourite… Mr Brodie let’s try and do things well and make those employed by us do things well before we run up the white flag…. we are very much let down by the talent we have at County Hall, and Mr Brodie, the funny thing is you were elected to fix that!
*facepalm*
Local leaders have been held back from delivering the change their residents need – growth, public services that are there when people need them, and politics done with communities, not to them.
Now, any mayor of a region (this one included) will be mindful of the figures. IF they decided to spend spend spend on, say, Hampshire and ignore our needs on the island it would bring their stats down. Ergo, they would be seen as failing. It’s in everyone’s interests to raise everyone up to a better standard.
SOME people in our local politics want the status quo to remain (see first paragraph). Others want change for the better, even if it means they themselves get sidelined in the power dynamic.
Lastly, PLEASE read the White Paper and look at all the other regions where is has had a massively good effect.