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Devon County Council has today welcomed the Boundary Committee decision that a single unitary council for Devon is the preferred option to go forward for consultation as part of its ongoing review into the feasibility of creating a unitary local government structure in the county.

The Boundary Committee’s clear view is that the people of Devon will be ‘best served’ by a unitary authority covering the whole of Devon.

Under the proposal, the boundaries of Plymouth and Torbay would be left unchanged.

This proposal will now be the subject of a 12 week consultation period prior to the Boundary Committee making its final recommendation to Government by the end of the year.

In a joint statement from Devon County Council, the Leader, Cllr Brian Greenslade, and Shadow Leader, Cllr John Hart, said:

 
“We welcome today’s announcement and are pleased that the Boundary Committee has seen strength in the argument put forward by a number of councils that a single unitary council for Devon is best placed to cut costs, deliver value for money and reduce the burden of Council Tax.

"We believe that keeping Devon strong and united will ensure the capacity to manage major services like education and social care for the elderly and to make the big investments needed to invigorate the County’s economy and prosperity as a whole.

“At the same time we think it also provides the best option for delivering high quality, responsive and accountable local services across the whole of Devon.

“We are particularly pleased that the Boundary Committee has emphasised the importance of devolving power to local communities via local Community Boards and a powerful City Board for Exeter which was such a major feature of our original submission.

“We recognise that this announcement is only one milestone on a long journey which will have a huge impact on our great County and we will now wish to involve all partners and stakeholders in planning for the future.”

“In the meantime, we pledge that the County Council will remain focussed on providing frontline services whilst we go through the remaining stages of the review.”