The chair of a special interest group representing unitary councils has accused some county councils of planning to “retake” the unitaries they sit alongside under the government’s new devolution strategy.
Paul Bettison (Con), who is the chairman of the Unitary Councils Network - a lobbying body which is part of the Local Government Association - said he was wary of the implications of the government’s recent rhetoric to “take devolution beyond the largest cities”. He claimed the ambition for more county deals opens the doors for counties to take over neighbouring unitaries that broke away from them during the last major wave of reorganisation in 1997-8.