https://issuu.com/benham/docs/c_w_jan_26

MPs John Slinger and Sir Jeremy Wright come from opposite sides of the political spectrum but there is no doubting they both have the best interests of the region at heart.

John Slinger, the MP for Rugby and Bulkington, was voted in as Labour’s candidate at the last General Election, while Conservative Sir Jeremy Wright, the MP for Kenilworth and Southam, is now in his 20th year in Parliament.

The pair – who agree on many things in terms of the way forward for the region – joined Chamber chief executive Corin Crane on stage at our recent Annual Business and Economic Conference to discuss the future of the region, particularly with Warwickshire moving towards a unitary administration.

Corin: There is a great deal of change on the cards nationally and regionally. There is also a huge amount of potential for regeneration and more employment land in our area which will help to drive growth. We need to make sure we get the infrastructure in place to help deliver that.

We need healthy local authorities, working here in Coventry and Warwickshire alongside us as businesses – something that has been the case for many years now – to help get the economy growing and making the most of these opportunities.

John and Sir Jeremy are two local MPs, who join us for a non-partisan conversation around what the future holds.

Jeremy: The starting point is that we should recognise the status quo is not sustainable. The idea that we have six councils in Warwickshire is probably not something we will be able to keep. The Government is very clear about the way forward, and I don’t disagree. There are huge advantages to unitary councils. For example, I find it odd that housing and planning is located in one council and economic development is in another!

We as MPs are often signposting constituents to the right council because people and businesses are unsure where to go.

So, we need to move on and in Warwickshire there are two options – a unitary for the north and a unitary for the south, or one that covers all of Warwickshire.

It probably makes more sense – being parochial about it – to have a unitary authority for the south of the county and one for the north because those areas are different.

But, it might be difficult because the Government wants a unitary authority to have 500,000 people within it and neither the north nor the south would be that big. If that view is maintained then I suspect that, whatever I prefer, we might be looking at a single unitary authority for Warwickshire anyway.

John: I agree with a huge amount of what Sir Jeremy has said. It’s important to talk about the reason the government is doing this because it is about devolving responsibility, resources, and power to local areas.
The status quo is too complicated. There’s too much fragmentation, so in order to properly devolve responsibility, resources and power, you do need a more unified structure.

This will increase accountability for politicians and will allow them to be more strategic and focus on the issues that matter most. That’s adult social care, special educational needs, children’s services, highways and strategic growth planning to support the economy.

That’s the purpose of the reforms and then we can have authorities with a mayor sitting at the top of them so that you can genuinely have strategic leadership and accountability.  

I feel very strongly that a single unitary authority for Warwickshire is the right way forward. It will give us more clout and there are certain issues that really do need a county-wide focus.