At a full Town Council meeting on Monday 20 October, Chief Executive of North West Leicestershire District Council Allison Thomas gave a verbal presentation on the proposal for Local Government Reform ahead of it being submitted to the government. 

The proposal was described by Thomas described the proposal as a 'bold vision to reset local government in our county.' 

She described reorganisation as 'rather than a takeover, it's a redesign,' with a 'very strong flavour of debt prevention and to improve lives and reduce pressures on services.' 

'Local government generally has been underfunded for years and this is a way for the government to streamline.' 

By setting up a Mayoral Unitary Authority as part of the North, City, South proposal, NWLDC hopes that their plans will create 22,000 jobs by 2025 and the authority with make cost reductions of £44,000,000, mainly by reducing upper management level roles. 

The proposal will also have a 'very strong focus on maintaining a presence in towns,' by introducing neighbourhood plans of 50,000 residents, where they will work with stakeholders and town and parish councils to work closely with communities. 

The proposal plans to bring local people closer to their local government, as well as better organisation of social services and NHS access. 

After the presentation by Thomas, Ashby Town Councillors had the opportunity to ask questions, led by Mayor of Ashby, Cllr Damilola Ojuri. 

The first question was from Cllr Murrae Blair-Park, who ask Ms Thomas about the changes to local government would affect the day to day lives of the service user, as he was concerned the proposal was an over simplification. 

Ms Thomas responded by explaining that the neighbourhood plans would cover 50,000 residents, which would break up health and social care as well as other key services with each neighbourhood having their own housing officers, wellbeing officers, etc. 

Cllr Bigby then asked where the funds for the transition cost of £1million would come from, questioning whether the authority would be selling assets. 

Ms Thomas said 15% of NWLDC's assets would be sold where new services could be joined together under one roof. 

She also said that for every £1 that was invested into local government reorganisation, there would be at least £3.50 return 'in the long run'. 

Final proposals for local government reorganisation must be submitted to the government by 28 November, where a public consultation on proposals will be carried out by the government.