The county that could be cut in half

Depending on who you speak to, Warwickshire is considered a county divided.

Some politicians are pushing for it to be split in two as the government pushes ahead with plans to give local areas more decision-making powers via devolution.

The plans mean none of the six councils in Warwickshire would exist by 2028.

They include the overarching Warwickshire County Council and the five lower tier district and boroughs. So now, the race is on to decide what should replace them.

There are two options recommended in an independent report commissioned by the local councils: split the county in two, with north and south single-tier authorities; or replace the existing structure with a single large council.

The two council argument revolves around smaller councils being able to better serve the needs of residents in areas viewed as economically and socially different.

A two-council set up would see the district councils of Stratford and Warwick merge to create South Warwickshire.

Rugby, North Warwickshire and Nuneaton and Bedworth would then come together to create North Warwickshire.

Ultimately, the government will decide what happens, but the districts and boroughs are being invited to express their preferences ahead of a final decision.

They only have until 28 November – but there is far from a uniform opinion about what Warwickshire’s new unitary set up should look like.

So far, Liberal Democrat-controlled Stratford, Green-led Warwick, Tory-run North Warwickshire and Labour-led Nuneaton and Bedworth, have all expressed a preference for splitting the county in two.

Labour-led Rugby is currently on the fence, although noises coming out of the town hall suggest councillors are likely to lean towards a single authority – with concerns about the county’s identity, police force and fire service playing a role.

They will vote on the issue at a full council meeting on 19 November.

The current top tier authority, Reform-led Warwickshire County Council, will vote on the matter next Tuesday.

They too are believed to be leaning towards a single authority, although there is understood to be disagreement even within parties.

Councillor George Finch, said sorting out a plan for devolution was one of his “biggest priorities”, when he spoke to the BBC after being installed as leader in July.

Speaking at the time, he said he was leaning towards a single large council, but wanted to explore the idea of local town councils suggesting the move would show “councillors are not in their ivory towers”.

“We’re not the government, but we can put our recommendations forward, we can put what the people ask us to do, and if government ignore it, they’ll be out of a job in three years’ time and you’ll see Nigel Farage being prime minister.”

In Stratford-on-Avon however, Manuela Perteghella, the town’s Liberal Democrat MP, agreed with her counterparts leading the district council, that a two-tier system would work best.

Perteghella, who sits on the Committee for the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, said: “We don’t want councillors in the north to make decisions, for example, about planning in the south.”

Asked if splitting the council could mean the county loses its sense of identity, she said: “I don’t think so, because we’re still part of Warwickshire as a county.”

Next year’s elections in Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth will be the last under the county’s existing structure.

Elections for the newly formed council, or councils, will then be held in 2027.

At that point a shadow operation will swing into action until the new authority or authorities take full control in 2028, when the existing councils will be wound up.