Lib Dems back council merger to save £1 million per year

6.42.00pm GMT Tue 16th Feb 2010

The Liberal Democrats on Stratford District Council are calling for all party support for the proposed management team merger with Warwick District Council. The proposal will be considered at a Stratford District Council meeting on February 22nd.

Warwick District Council have already achieved all party support for an identical motion in support of the merger and have formally written to Stratford, asking for a cross council working party to be set up to carry the plans forward.

Nigel and Hazel discuss the merger plan

Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Stratford District Council, Cllr Hazel Wright, said, 'I hope the Conservatives in Stratford will work with us on this. I'm well aware how difficult it is for some people to pay the Council Tax and the Chief Executive's report shows that savings could be up to £1 million a year between the two councils. When Stratford's Overview and Scrutiny Assembly looked at this the Conservatives refused to support the proposal and instead put forward their own far more vague motion about being prepared to work with any council.

But this is different. There is now a firm proposal from Warwick on the table. Any watering down of the proposal will send the wrong message to Warwick and could put the whole plan and the savings at risk. There is a huge potential saving for Council taxpayers. It's time to stop talking about savings and start delivering them, so I'm saying to the Conservatives - please, let's forget the politics and work together to do the best we can for the people who have to pay the Council Tax'.

Nigel Rock said 'This sort of innovative thinking from the Lib Dems is what the public want to see coming forward. Everyone knows that public finances are under huge pressure and we need to explore every avenue to keep costs down and yet deliver the services the public want and need. Stratford and Warwick Districts could not be more closely linked geographically - Stratford District wraps around about half of Warwick District's boundary.'