Worcestershire Source

This is something that @tomcollinsworcs and Alan Amos were campaigning together for, depsite it asking for preferential treatment.

Ashley Monk has joined the Conservatives on both Redditch Borough Council and Worcestershire County Council. The former Reform councillor had been an independent since May. worcestershiresource.news/as…

Transforming Worcestershire (joint two-unitary proposal, 27 Nov 2025): malvernhills.gov.uk/files/Do… Quote: "councillors closer to the communities they serve."

BBC on the planning changes (1 Nov 2026): bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx7v…

MHCLG National Scheme of Delegation guidance: gov.uk/government/publicatio…

Redditch Planning 12 Nov (CANCELLED): moderngovwebpublic.redditchb…

Sources: Bromsgrove Planning 5 Nov (CANCELLED): moderngovwebpublic.bromsgrov…

If decision making closer to the people were real, those call-ins and committees would still be there. Distance is what is increasing.

So the committees that would hear those applications are not sitting either.

Ward councillors can no longer put applications before a committee in the way they could before call-in ended.

This month the planning diaries are blank. Empty committee rooms are the picture.

In their joint north-south proposal, five districts including Bromsgrove and Redditch said two unitaries would deliver "stronger local accountability and decision-making, with councillors closer to the communities they serve."

Under that scheme, call-in by ward councillors is gone. Officer decision is now the default for most applications.

CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE?: Bromsgrove and Redditch have cancelled their November planning committees. Both cite the National Scheme of Delegation, in force from 31 October.

Sources: Future Worcester consultation: worcester.gov.uk/futureworce… Worcester News: worcesternews.co.uk/news/266… LGPIH Act 2007 s.87: legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/200… s.86: legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/200… EDCE Act 2026 s.62: legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/202… Minister's 29 Oct letter: assets.publishing.service.go… One Worcestershire bid: worcestershire.gov.uk/sites/…

With parish councils available under either model, and the neighbourhood duty applying to every council, it raises the question of why "local voice" was ever treated as an argument for splitting Worcestershire in half.

The minister's 29 Oct letter backed two councils as "closer to their communities", yet accepted the single-council bid's "local neighbourhood committees. These would bring together town and parish representatives, the council, voluntary groups, health services and the police."

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 also says "Local authorities in England must make appropriate arrangements to secure the effective governance" of neighbourhood areas (s.62), a duty that applies whether Worcestershire has one council or two.

The power comes from the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, under which a community governance review "must make recommendations as to what new parish or parishes (if any) should be constituted" (s.87), whatever council sits above it.

Council leader Lynn Denham said residents "could elect someone from their own community to run services that might not be a priority for a larger unitary authority", such as parks, allotments, litter bins and public toilets.