Reform say LGR option was the only sensible choice as Tories accuse them of 'betrayal'

Following a full council debate at Oak House in Hucknall on September 2, councillors voted for the option 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, enabling the delivery of high-quality public services and allow services to be shaped around communities with shared characteristics and needs.

Coun Mick Barton, council leader, said: “I’m delighted that the county council has voted for Option 1b, it’s the most efficient option and over the long run it will save the taxpayer the most money.

"That money will be reinvested into the services that people want, like fixing the roads and pavements, keeping the streets clean and making sure our parks are up to date.

“It will give people more say and control over what happens in their local areas and what issues matter most to them.

“It gives us the opportunity to work with the East Midlands County Combined Authority on growth for new housing and employment sites and will also help to regenerate our towns and city.

“We’ve now got a clear plan to build on and develop, and we’ll keep working with everyone to get the best business case possible for Nottinghamshire residents before the November deadline set by Government.”

But the opposition Conservatives accused Reform of ‘betrayal’ after councillors rejected their Option 2 amendment to the proposals and said Reform had ‘sold their voters down the river’ by ‘breaking the promises they made only months ago to protect local communities from being swallowed up by the failing city council’.

Coun Sam Smith, Conservative group leader, said: “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 Labour – a council that has declared itself bankrupt twice and wasted £38m on Robin Hood Energy.

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

Coun Smith said families in Broxtowe and Gedling would now be hit with a seven per cent council tax hike – around £120 more for Gedling households and £100 more in Broxtowe every year – just to prop up the Labour-controlled city council’s failing finances.

He continued: “This isn’t just a broken promise – it’s betrayal.

"Families already struggling with the cost of living will now pay more, get less, and watch their identity swallowed up by the city.

"Reform have sold their voters down the river.

“Make no mistake, voters will not forget this betrayal at the ballot box.”

Coun Smith is now calling for alternative LGR options to be brought forward before November.

But Coun Richard Darrington (Ref), who represents Hucknall South, said option 1b was the only sensible option moving forward as it kept the council at the LGR negotiating table.

He said: “I said in the debate that I would rather be eating from the table of negotiation, as opposed to starving behind a locked door – it was literally that simple.

"This option gave us pretty much the only chance of being involved in negotiations down the line and I just think it’s imprerative for the people of Nottinghamshire that somebody has their backs and can try to represent them.”

“At least this way, we’ve got a fighting chance – however, it is a collective belief, certainly my belief that ,come the 11th hour, the Government could well jump into bed with the Labour-run city council anyway.

"So personally, despite this vote today, I think 1b won’t happen, regardless of the Government setting the criteria and the challenge is to make the stats work in favour of something.

"I don’t honestly think the Government will stick to it, I think the goalposts will move at the 11th hour, which will be in November, but I’m hoping not because we need to be part of it.”