Ashfield Council sets up new committee to steer local government shake-up

Ashfield District Council offices
By Latifa Yedroudj, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
A new committee has been formed in Ashfield to scrutinise plans for a major shake-up of local government in Nottinghamshire.
The Local Government Reorganisation Select Committee will be responsible for Ashfield’s District Council’s move towards a new unitary model for the county.
The committee met for the first time on Monday, June 23 to review progress on ongoing reform of local councils that could see existing two-tier councils merged to create a single streamlined authority.
The changes could affect how residents receive services like housing, bin collections, planning, and social care.
The Chair and Vice-Chair of the committee were appointed and announced at the authority’s full council meeting on Monday.
Cllr Arnie Harkin (Ash Ind) will serve as the committee’s Chair and Cllr Ian Briggs (Ash Ind) will be the Vice-Chair.
Seven other councillors from Ashfield District Council will also serve in the committee.
A Special Responsibility Allowance of £9,320.55 will be paid to the Chair and £3,495.21 to the Vice Chair.
Cllr Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), Leader of Ashfield District Council, said the new committee will give the district “a voice” and make sure vital services and policies will meet the needs of residents.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We’ve approved this new committee to make sure Ashfield has a proper voice in what could be the biggest change to local government in 50 years.
“The Government wants to see firm proposals from councils across Nottinghamshire by the end of July, with a full business case submitted by the end of November.
“That’s a very tight turnaround.
“We’ve got a team of nine councillors from across Ashfield who will be meeting weekly to work out what these changes mean for us and the services we provide.
“There are real concerns that, in a reorganisation, district councils could get swallowed up by adult social care responsibilities which dominate the county budget.
“But district councils like ours provide over 800 services. Many of them are discretionary, but they matter deeply to our residents.
“We’re looking closely at what a large unitary authority could mean for Ashfield.
“This committee will gather evidence, look at transitional arrangements, ask what staffing levels we need, and how policy decisions like planning applications will be handled.
“Our job is to build a case – to show how a new council can keep delivering what matters to Ashfield.
“We’ll be setting out policy ideas and evidence to present to Government over the next year.”
“We’ll also be reporting to the other council leaders in Nottinghamshire by mid-July and continuing that dialogue throughout.
“This is a massive piece of work and it’s vital we get it right.”
In February, the Government invited the leaders of all nine councils across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to begin work on a reorganisation proposal.
This would include removing the current two-tier structure of local authorities in Nottinghamshire – which sees services split between lower and upper-tier councils.
Lower-tier authorities – like Mansfield, Ashfield and Bassetlaw – deliver localised services like housing, planning, bin collections and park maintenance.
Upper-tier authorities – which, locally, is Nottinghamshire County Council – are much larger and deliver county-wide services like road maintenance, social care and education.
There are potential options for reorganisation.
Under option one, Nottingham, Broxtowe, and Gedling would be combined as one unitary authority, with the remaining districts and boroughs – that’s Mansfield, Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood and Rushcliffe – also merging.
Option two would mean Nottingham, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe combined, with Gedling replacing Rushcliffe in the make-up of the other boundary to form a unitary council.
Option three, referred to as the “county-only option”, would mean Nottingham remains as a singular unitary authority, with the rest of Nottinghamshire forming a second, large super-council.
In July this year, all nine councils are expected to review a report outlining the progress made on three proposed unitary council options.
The aim would be for all councils to reach an agreement on a single preferred model.
Once agreed, work will begin on a full proposal to be submitted to the Government by 28 November this year.