Unitary: How do Labour (and the LibDems) expect to get away with this?

Typical Labour Government - they can't even announce a decision without making a ham fist of it. Let me tell you the story of Unitary.

As regular readers will no doubt remember the story goes something like this.

Norwich Labour decide they want Unitary because they thought that those horrible Tories (you know, the ones who run the excellent four-star County Council) ignored Norwich and their out-of-touch cabinet members who know little about the City (you know, the ones who represent faraway places like Cringleford or live in Eaton) shouldn't be allowed to spread practice (you know, the acclaimed service provision) to Norwich (you know, the council with the zero-star Housing Department). So they applied for unitary status.

Unfortunately the then-Labour Secretary of State said that the plans were unaffordable, so they put in 2 bids (against the rules at the time I think) which contained plans for a small unitary based on existing boundaries and an enlarged unitary based upon taking in surrounding villages. Labour Ministers never killed this off...

Then people in South Norfolk and Broadland went bananas at the thought of this and protested against the plans. Still the then-Labour Secretary of State thought it was a bad idea.

Then the County Council launched their own bid for one large Unitary based upon the whole of Norfolk, which upset an awful lot of people including the district councils.

So given the County bid met the 5 criteria set down by the government but the City bid didn't, the then-Labour Secretary of State sent the decision off to the Independent Boundary Commission for a decision. Still Labour Ministers didn't kill this off...

The Independent Boundary Commission worked very hard and fought off various legal challenges and the whole thing dragged on-and-on whilst taxpayers continued to foot the bills.

Then the Independent Boundary Commission stunned everyone by saying only the Norfolk Unitary met all the criteria and that the Norwich bid was risky, unaffordable, poor value for money and the government should avoid it at all costs.

So the decision goes off to the Labour Secretary of State for a decision. Should he go with the County Unitary, scrap the whole thing (despite telling everyone status quo wasn't an option all along) or do something else?

You got it - do something else.

So a written statement was sent out and the Secretary of State avoided questions in the Commons because his decision was to implement the original City Council bid (you know, the one which the Independent Boundary Commission warned against as did two former Labour Secretaries of State).

And now - thanks to the Guardian for the story - it turns out the Civil Servants are so worried about the decision backfiring that they asked the Secretary of State to "order" them to do this and thus clearing them of responsibility.

And how does the Secretary of State justify this? By changing the goal posts and applying some very muddled thinking to this. So still Labour don't kill it ...

If you think I'm being partisan about this, think again - this decision sees me unable to stand for council and will have to give up my seat and does nothing to help the Tory position (an extended boundary unitary would have, for example). The position I have taken has always been in the best interest of the City (and taxpayers) of Norwich

If you think I'm being flippant, you're right, I am. Only because like a lot of people I want this whole thing sorted one way or another. And given the potential hold ups in the Commons and the Lords, and the Conservative pledge to overturn this in office, could the whole game be for nothing? This has dragged on too long and cost too much - for all councils and all council tax payers.

Unitary has been cursed since the day that Labour, and their LibDem / Green poodle allies, popped corks on the steps of City Hall. So where has this announcement leave us? Not much further forward I'd say; still in the air.

UPDATE: LibDems are pretty much at war over this now - Norman Lamb was uncompromising in his attack on the plans in the EDP today and tonight Brian Watkins, City LibDem Leader, told me he still passionately backed the bid. Words from LibDem circles is that of daggers drawn.

Brown set to reshuffle cabinet

The BBC is reporting that Gordon Brown will carry out a "limited" reshuffle of the cabinet within the next few days, which he has to do to replace Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly who has quit to spend more time with her 4 young children. Brown will now feel that the current economic situation will stop him making real changes at the top; so, for now, Miliband, Darling, Harman and Smith should feel safe. I also don't think he will feel that any sackings will be appropriate at this staff - so really just deckchairs stuff. I think Liam Bryne will be heading the queue to come into the cabinet. The economic problems may have given Gordon a lifeline, but it has also tied his hands with the reshuffle.

Kelly quits the government

The sight of outgoing Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly pleading innocence about her decision to quit the government was, frankly, bizarre. Yet another New Labour stooge suddenly discovers that their family is very important and resigns before the total project implodes. However she spins it, there is no way this wasn't a direct attack on the Prime Minister.

Kelly was apparently outed by a leak from No.10 to the BBC. If I were Brown, I'd be looking to my own personal staff to see who is plotting. But she could have deferred making a statement. She hijacked the news agenda, just hours after Brown had made a reasonable speech and did so to move the story straight back to splits.

Kelly, who represents the marginal seat of Bolton West, has been quite out of step with government for some time. This may be to do with religion - who knows, except her - but she is quite well known for straying from the Brown leadership.

When you add all these things together, you cannot help but conclude that this is a woman who knew what she was doing. Brown's back on the rocks. I hope he enjoyed his few hours of political safety.

Eight Days

Labour's Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly and the Norwich Conservatives do agree on one thing - that the City Council's Unitary Bid is financially risky and could do damage to services such as education and social services, which are currently provided by the 4-star rated Norfolk County Council.

Well, we did last March anyway.

Just eight days after Ms Kelly wrote to DPM Prescott warning about the dangers of these City unitary bids, she then put the Norwich bid straight onto the Unitary bid shortlist - despite the misgivings she held just a week previously.

The question this leaves everyone involved is ... why?

Well if you ask me there is something seriously dodgy going on here. Labour Ms Kelly has been heavily lobbied by the Labour City Council and you have to wonder how she dealt with this.

Did Norwich Labour manage to persuade their Labour colleague to put the bid, no matter how weak (it was, remember 16th out of 17 according to the league table) on the shortlist because they knew they would be politically savaged if it fell at the first hurdle?

Kelly, probably annoyed by this political stalking, may well have thrown her hands in the air, stuck the City on the list and done so in the sure and certain knowledge it would fail anyway. Why break Steve's heart at the outset?

Whatever the truth, and we may never know, the fact is that in just eight short days the Secretary of State did a 180-degree turn.

Sunday Express: Now Labour Ministers say that the Norwich Unitary Bid is financially risky and will damage education and social services

I will comment at length later, but before I go out for my Father's Day dinner, I thought I would add the press release which went out today in response to the Sunday Express story regarding Norwich Unitary. A couple of radio stations have done interviews and all the newspapers have been onto me today so I think this may cause a stir tomorrow - and yet more damage to what remains of the fragile credibility of the LibDems and Labour's political white elephant:

Commenting on the Sunday Express story regarding the Norwich Unitary Bid, in which it is claimed that a leaked letetr between Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly and Deputy Prime Minister John prescott reveal the weakness of the case for Norwich Unitary, Conservative Group Leader and Bowthorpe Councillor Antony Little said:"It is good to know that Ministers and Civil Servants see all the same faults with the bid that we do - a costly re-organisation that can only put up tax and make services worse. The fears expressed by the Minister regarding the impact on Education and Social Services are well founded. City Hall is an "inadequate" authoritiy sekeing more powers from one that is 4 star rated, so they are right to be worried."

"Also, as we expressed at the time, there are concerns that it is not financially stable and the Ministers warn against the risk to taxpayers of having a Unitary Norwich."

"The fact is that Norwich should never have made the shortlist. If Norwich now gets through it is clear that it will be Ministerial plotting rather than the strenght of the bid that does it."

"This is a massive blow to Labour and their LibDems allies on the council. Only the Conservatives warned against Unitary and voted against Unitary. The next time a resident can't get bushes cut back, or street signs repaired, or community centres refurbished because of council cutbacks, they ought to remember the vast amount of money wasted on Labour's political Unitary project."

"Norwich should never have put this bid in - we know it, the County Council know it, the civil servants know it, the Minister knows it. Will they have the guts to back up their instincts and reject the Unitary bid or will Labour do a dodgy-deal with their pals in Westminster to get this expensive, dangerous and flawed project through?"

Ruth Kelly? Not a problem.

Poor Ruth Kelly, cabinet minister and former Education Secretary, is under fire from various outraged lefties complaining of her decision to send one of her many children to a private school because they better cope with the Special Needs of that child. Ms Kelly is doing what any parent would do - putting their child first, above her reputaion, her politics and her party. Good on her.

David Cameron is spot on for backing her up today. He said it would only be wrong if Labour were in favour of abolishing private education and that Ruth Kelly made the right call - as a parent. The left of politics leaps up and down like they do on such occassions.

Ruth Kelly has made a choice that I would like every parent to have and she should make it her mission in government to make that so.