NORTH West Leicestershire District Council leader Cllr Richard Blunt says the authority will be 'fighting its corner' over plans to overhaul England's democratic set-up.

The Labour Government made an announcement on Monday which could see local authorities undergo a huge shake-up.

Leicestershire is currently governed by a county council and seven district and borough councils, which share decision-making powers between them.

Ashby and Measham come under the North West Leicestershire District Council authority.

The English Devolution White Paper includes a proposal to merge councils in areas such as Leicestershire, where there are, on the surface, two tiers of authority, into a single organisation. 

However, there is a third tier which would include parish authorities such as Ashby de la Zouch Town Council - which could see them having a greatly enhanced role in local government.

The plans would "streamline" processes and save money, Ms Rayner said.

But, with the District Council in its current form under threat, Cllr Blunt said: "Local government in Leicestershire works. 

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"No single authority is failing. Here at NWLDC, we are a well-run council with a great financial record, and we'll be fighting our corner to make sure we get the best for our residents.

"We want to make sure local government remains local. Bigger isn't always better, and we think that a population of 500,000 would be way too big to be able to provide good local services to local people, especially in our rural areas.

"The big drain on council budgets is with social care. Putting this huge, important, and costly service in the same authority as other services that are important to local people – things like street cleaning, anti-social behaviour, parks, leisure centres – we believe would put these other services at risk as the cost of providing social care increases.

"We welcome the opportunity for devolution of powers and funding from central government to the regions as a good way to secure investment and stimulate economic growth within our communities, but don't believe that a single unitary for Leicestershire is the answer. 

"It isn't a good solution to the problem and requires significant thought. We're here for the discussion and will shout loudly to encourage the government to listen to the views of local people."