How would you reform and redraw UK local government?

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

So let's say the Local Government Boundaries Commission has put you in charge of finally sorting out the muddle that is local government in the UK. Your task is to create a responsive and sensible local government structure and end the numerous failures in the system that has been introduced by decades of Westminster silliness. What do you do?

[MaxQue]

I have no clue, but I would ban directly elected mayor. The way the system currently works, it's "elect a local dictator free to ignore council if he wants".

[Silent Hunter]

Simple two-tier system; counties and boroughs. Possibly go back to the traditional counties with some variations based on changes since then.

[Simfan34]

Simple two-tier system; counties and boroughs. Possibly go back to the traditional counties with some variations based on changes since then.

That makes sense.

[Sol]

Adopt various councils based on metropolitan areas--i.e. all of the London area amalgamated under one authority, with a clause ensuring their auto-expansion with urban growth. The non-metropolitan bits should be traditional counties, unless they'd be an awkward discontinuous bit--in that case they should be added to the nearest cities.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Practically or ideally? I think the first makes sense for a quick reply. I would dust off the Redcliffe-Maud report, make a few minor changes, and implement it.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Is there any particular reason the Bristol area is part of the South West rather than the West Midlands when England is regionalized?  For that matter, why divide the Midlands in two? Any reason other than size?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Is there any particular reason the Bristol area is part of the South West rather than the West Midlands when England is regionalized?

Because it is most definitely in the West Country.

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Well there are linguistic, historical and cultural differences (even landscape ones come to think of it), but the main thing is functional geography. The West Midlands is dominated by a single large conurbation (that in turn is dominated by Birmingham), while in the East Midlands there is no dominant city. Of course the East Midlands is complicated by the fact that a fairly substantial part of it (i.e. Lincolnshire) is not really part of the Midlands but has nowhere else to go.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

]For that matter, why divide the Midlands in two? Any reason other than size?

Well there are linguistic, historical and cultural differences (even landscape ones come to think of it), but the main thing is functional geography. The West Midlands is dominated by a single large conurbation (that in turn is dominated by Birmingham), while in the East Midlands there is no dominant city. Of course the East Midlands is complicated by the fact that a fairly substantial part of it (i.e. Lincolnshire) is not really part of the Midlands but has nowhere else to go.

If York is a separate region rather than part of a monolithic North England, then why couldn't all of Lincolnshire be part of Greater York instead of merely the Humberside?  Or alternatively, why would it be a bad fit to be attached to East Anglia?

[afleitch]

Reconstitute the Metropolitan Counties and empower them in accordance with the Greater London Authority. If someone in Bury or Crosby whines then tell them to grow the f-ck up and say if they like suburbia so much never shop/work in the nearby city ever again. You can't reap the benefits and refuse to play a part in funding and supporting the cities you benefit from (sorry it's a particular bug bear of mine)

Abolish unitary authorities in England and Wales, except for Bristol. Reconstruct and give more power to the counties but make sure Avon, Cleveland and Humberside never appear again.

Basically 1974 on steroids.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

If York is a separate region rather than part of a monolithic North England, then why couldn't all of Lincolnshire be part of Greater York instead of merely the Humberside?  Or alternatively, why would it be a bad fit to be attached to East Anglia?

Well Yorkshire has one of the strongest regional identities in England. If the county ever became an independent state then we can be sure that its first act would be to invade its neighbours in order to reclaim its lost territories.

Anyway, its really just the south bank of the Humber that has any links with Yorkshire (and even then I suspect the pairing would be resented were there regional governments). The rest of Lincolnshire might not be Midlands, but it does at least have links to it. Pairing Lincolnshire with East Anglia has never been done because East Anglia has often been linked by central government planners with the eastern Home Counties (as is the case with the current East of England region). Were England to get regional government of some kind, a decent case would actually exist for having Lincolnshire (the whole of it) be its own region. It may be just about large enough...

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I kind of think the London boroughs could be two-tier. Make four or five megaboroughs like NY has; then create parishes to represent individual districts currently amalgamated in artificial boroughs that are both too small and too large.

[Harry Hayfield]

And Wales?

[Vega]

I think making all of England have unitary authorities is a good idea.

[YL]

I'm not sure that a one size fits all unitary approach is that good an idea.  In sparsely populated rural areas it could make "local" government feel very remote.  (I sometimes wonder how well the Highland unitary works, given that its main centre in Inverness is a very long way away from some parts of it.)  You could go for smaller population unitaries in those areas, I suppose.

I'd like to find a way of getting Leeds and Bradford council areas to have fewer areas which aren't really part of the cities.  If you're looking at something like the current model, the Airedale and Wharfedale towns currently in the city council areas ought to have enough population to form a district of their own, while on the south side Morley could be combined with parts of Kirklees to form a "Heavy Woollen District" district, leaving a cut down Kirklees consisting of Huddersfield and the areas to the south and west.  Wetherby could go with either Selby or Harrogate.

On the other hand some other cities, like Manchester and Leicester, have very tightly drawn boundaries and could do with being expanded.