An extraordinary meeting will be held at 7.45pm on Tuesday 14th August.  Here is the agenda for the meeting.

As you may all be aware, Northamptonshire’s local authorities have been “invited” by the government to submit a proposal to restructure local government in Northamptonshire by the end of August 2018. 

Specifically, the councils are consulting until 22^nd July 2018 on a proposal to replace the existing County, District and Borough councils with two new unitary authorities: (see www.futurenorthants.co.uk for more information). 

The current proposal is that one of these Unitary Authorities will consist of;

Daventry District Council [pop, 80,000; Band D council tax – £156; in the black],

South Northants District Council [pop 90,000; Band D council tax – £189; in the black] and

Northampton Borough Council [pop 225,000; Band D council tax – £219; in the red]

There are obvious disadvantages on their way for residents of Daventry & South Northants districts, under this set up…

Unfortunately the Government has set the criteria, stating that any Unitary Authority formed must have a population of at least 300,000; notwithstanding the fact that of the 55 UAs in England, only 11 have populations of 300,000 or more.

When I asked what evidence there was to support this figure as the minimum requirement for a Unitary Authority, Professor Colin Copus of Du Montfort University replied, “Excellent question; none, no evidence whatsoever…”

Dixie Hughes

I strongly urge everyone to complete the consultation questionnaire available via www.futurenorthants.co.uk  before 22^nd July.

Further to the post this time last week, below is an amended agenda for the meeting on 17th July.

Agenda

The Future of Democracy in Daventry

Question Time

Get the facts and have your say

Speakers include: Chris Heaton-Harris MP, Cllr Ken Ritchie, Professor Colin Copus

Chair: Abigail Campbell

iCon Centre

University of Northampton

Eastern Way, Daventry NN11 0QB

Saturday 14th July

6.30-8pm

Doors open 6pm

Refreshments available

Please book your free place on Eventbrite (‘Democracy in Daventry’)

or contact Abigail Campbell abigailathome@gmail.com or 07989 421836