Reform leader hits back at Conservative 'betrayal' claims after Nottinghamshire Council LGR vote

Following a full council debate at Oak House in Hucknall on September 2, councillors voted for LGR Option 1b, which has Broxtowe and Gedling becoming part of unitary authority with Nottingham City, while Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Mansfield, Newark & Sherwood and Rushcliffe form a second authority.

The decision follows extensive collaboration between the nine councils in the area, supported by specialist advice and analysis.

Reform said Option 1b was considered best to meet the Government’s criteria – but led to accusations from Conservative leader Coun Sam Smith that Reform had ‘sold voters down the river’ after councillors rejected the Conservatives’ Option 2 amendment.

But Coun Mick Barton, council leader, said: “LGR has been on the table for 10 years under the Conservative Group at Nottinghamshire Council.

"They have chosen not to deal with it, in any way, shape or form and they proved at the meeting that they are all over the place.

"From Reform’s point of view, this is an important piece of work that we have worked hard on over the last four months.

"We have completed in four months what has taken the Tories 10 years not to do.

"We believe this is true leadership as we represent the residents.

"LGR is being imposed on us by the Labour Government and we have no choice but to make a submission that meets the Government criteria.

"If we submit something that fails to meet the criteria, the minister will put it straight in the bin and the decision will be made for us by them.

"This could result in an outcome that is far less palatable than the one we have selected.

“The Conservatives proposed the amendment to go for Option 2 knowing full well that this didn’t meet the criteria and would have been thrown out by the minister.

"They also knew this when they voted for this option in March but went for this option as the most palatable stance ahead of the elections that took place in May.

“Paragraph 20 in the council report states this (Option 2) was the weakest of the three options and fails to meet a number of key criteria.

"Rushcliffe Council engaged with another consultant, KPMG, who put Option 2 as the weakest of four options.

"Their evaluation confirmed 1b was the highest scoring option.

“At the meeting, 43 members supported 1b, 11 voted against and one abstained.

"Conservatives in Newark put an amendment to support 1b at their meeting on July 15 and Conservatives in Rushcliffe supported 1b at their meeting on July 17.

"No councils will be ‘merging’ with Nottingham City – it is not a city council ‘takeover’

"A brand new authority will be formed and new councillors will be elected who will make future decisions.

"The new council will make its own policies and form their own budget – it is not ‘more of the same’.”

Following the meeting, Coun Smith accused Reform of ‘breaking promises’ and ‘selling voters down the river’, saying: “Nobody in this chamber was elected on a platform of dragging their area into Nottingham City.

"Not one councillor stood before voters and said they’d put them under the control of Nottingham City – a council that has declared itself bankrupt twice and wasted £38 million on Robin Hood Energy.

"Yet Reform have just voted to do exactly that.”

Coun Barton commented: “"There were eight Conservative councillors supported the 1b recommendation and just six who voted against.

"Clearly Coun Smith’s comments are not shared by the majority of his group.”

Coun Barton also said both Coun Smith and fellow county councillor Mike Adams (Con) – who both represent Trent Valley on Gedling Council – had voted for option 1e to put Rushcliffe and Broxtowe in the same unitary as the city when the LGR consultation was discused by Gedling Council.

Coun Smith also claimed families in Broxtowe and Gedling would be hit with a seven per cent council tax hike as result of forming a new authority with the city council.

But Coun Barton said this was just ‘scaremongering’.

He continued: “The city council is going and an entirely new council will be formed with new councillors.

"Coun Smith has no evidence to substantiate this claim.”

The Tories said they would now by considering putting forward alternative options to include a review of boundaries with the city ‘only expanding into its natural urban areas, such as Beeston, rather than swallowing up entire districts’.

He added that this would ‘allow rural areas to remain part of a rural county council, protecting their identity and their services’.

But Coun Barton countered: “The Conservatives have been looking at options for unitary options for years and considered many options but haven’t brought any new alternatives forward that meet the Government requirements.

“It is a little late to start thinking of further options now.

"Since May, we have been looking at alternatives with officers but there are no other options that meet the requirements from the minister.

"We have already looked at alternative options and none have met the Government criteria and if submitted would be immediately rejected by the minister.

“This has already happened in Surrey.

"If we submit something that doesn’t meet the criteria such as Option 2, we will leave us open to Nottingham City taking over other areas such as West Bridgford and possibly Hucknall in addition to Beeston, Stapleford, Arnold, Carlton and Netherfield.

“The natural urban area described by Coun Sam Smith would also include Arnold, Gedling, Carlton and Netherfield.”