Costs of developing plans for local Government reorganisation in Hertfordshire have already topped £1.5 million
Around £1.5 million has already been spent in Hertfordshire to develop plans to re-organise local Government, the Local Democracy Reporting Service has learned.
So far only £400,000 of the costs incurred by Hertfordshire’s councils have been met by the Government, meaning £1.1 million has been funded from councils’ existing budgets, which could have been used to deliver vital services.
On Monday (September 7), Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner announced there was to be a “pause” in the process, meaning the plans for local Government reorganisation in Hertfordshire - and 13 other areas - are to be reviewed.
It was in the wake of that announcement that the Local Democracy Reporting Service learned about the costs incurred.
The estimated £1.5 million in “direct costs” does not include the contributions of existing staff across the 11 councils, in areas such as finance, legal, human resources, communications, programme management, data and analytical teams.
Confirming the costs, a spokesperson for the Hertfordshire Local Government Reorganisation Programme said: “The direct costs incurred to date across Hertfordshire’s councils are approximately £1.5 million.
“These costs include programme management, specialist consultancy and advisory support, external recruitment and other expenditure directly associated with progressing the Local Government Reorganisation programme.
“Hertfordshire received just under £400,000 from the Government during the initial submission phase of the programme.
“There was a commitment from Government to provide an additional £1 million per unitary council.
“This funding has not yet been received, therefore, the additional £1.1 million of expenditure to date has been funded from the existing budgets of the 11 councils.
“Alongside these direct costs, the programme has required a significant contribution of officer and leadership resources across all 11 councils.
“This has included support from a wide range of services, including finance, legal, HR, communications, policy, democratic services, programme management and data and analytical teams.
“Much of this work has been undertaken through existing resources and is therefore not reflected in the direct programme expenditure.”
Officials from the programme say councils have worked hard to protect services throughout and that they will continue to make the case for “sufficient funding” from Government.
The spokesperson continued: “Throughout this process, councils have been committed to ensuring that services for residents continue to be delivered effectively.
“The programme has required significant resource from across the organisations, which has at times been challenging.
“However, councils have worked hard to protect service delivery throughout the programme.
“Hertfordshire’s councils will continue to make the case for sufficient funding for Local Government Reorganisation from the Government, including receiving the money already announced to support the implementation phase.”
In response to an enquiry by the LDRS, a spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government said that as part of the “pause”, the department would “consider council costs and how to support areas through the next stage of the process”.
“We recognise and appreciate the significant work that councils and partners have undertaken to date,” said the spokesperson.
“As part of the pause, we will consider council costs and how to support areas through the next stage of the process.”