MID Devon District Council has opposed the idea of a single mega-council for the county, although its leader says he is not against change.

Cllr Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat, Bradninch) said he would support genuine moves to bring greater powers closer to local people alongside more funding, but did not believe one single council for all of Devon could deliver this.

He also feels that Devon’s councils need to create a more detailed plan before rushing to tell the government it is ready to begin redesigning the county’s administrative boundaries.

“Councils who are being considered for the first stage [of the government’s proposed changes] are areas which have already looked at and considered devolution,” he said.

“These are areas where there is joined-up cooperation and working between districts and county [councils], and where there is already consideration of the makeup of a new unitary area.

“In simple terms, these are areas that are already on their path to regional devolution and have established plans for reorganisation but Devon County Council has done nothing. There is no plan, there is no joined-up thinking.”

Mid Devon’s full council has now voted to oppose a Devon-wide unitary authority and will write to the government to oppose it, and to remonstrate against the county council’s request to have May’s local elections postponed.

The government may allow some councils to delay elections for a year as part of its wider devolution proposals.

The county council says it wants to be proactive in plans to redesign local government, and claims that trying to run an election next year and then induct new councillors would be a challenge amid efforts to create a new unitary system.

Much of Devon is under a two-tier system of local government, whereby a county council oversees some services, such as highways and adult social care, and district councils, such as Mid Devon, are in charge of others, including planning and waste collection.

But Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, announced last month that she wants areas with two-tier systems to reorganise and create larger, unitary authorities, where all services are under one roof.

Devon already has two unitary authorities in Plymouth and Torbay, but Ms Rayner wants unitary authorities to cover populations of at least 500,000 people, which neither of Devon’s existing unitary authorities do.

“There is no requirement whatsoever to jump now without proper consultation work, working together and actually considering our residents at this point,” Mid Devon’s Cllr Taylor said.

He added options for the reorganisation of Devon’s councils should only happen after “considered, robust, and non-political proposals are developed”.

“We are not against ambition nor genuine devolution,” he said.

“We support working closely with our colleagues across Devon’s county, district, city and unitary councils to get the best deal for our residents with proper consultation, proper proposals and joined up-thinking.”

As part of Devon County Council’s vote to apply to postpone May’s local elections, it agreed to work with other councils and local organisations to create a plan for how Devon might be reorganised.

Bradley Gerrard