Miscellaneous
The future of local government in Northamptonshire has, for some time, been on a seemingly unstoppable route towards two new unitary authorities. Since government inspector Max Caller recommended the county's eight councils, including the financially stricken county council, should be scrapped, moves have been made in this direction. The government adopted Mr Caller's plan and it went through a consultation period. Legislation due to provide the basis for the formation of those two new authorities looked set to pass through Parliament before it dissolved earlier this week. However, at the last minute, it wasn't tabled. The move came at the same time as Labour announced it would be opposing the legislation and instead would be pushing for a three unitary future, complete with a separate authority in Northampton. I looked into how we got here and how Northamptonshire's unitary future is set to become a major election issue...