A few years ago Peterborough broke away from Cambridgeshire to become a unitary authority. This meant it combined the responsibilities of the district / City council with that of the County Council. Unfortunately, Peterborough just isn’t big enough to be efficient or effective.
It also meant that it was no longer part of Cambridgeshire. So we now have two large expensive organisations replicating services. Two chief execs, two set of councillors, two children’s services, two ……… and so on.
The question is why? Can the original aims of Peterborough splitting away still be upheld? Can the cost be sustained?
And of course Cambridgeshire still has District councils as well as a county council so it’s even more expensive.
Cornwall has just one unitary council for the whole county. Perhaps just one unitary for the whole of Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough makes sense?
