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High Court hearing

From the Times&Citizen:

A titanic struggle over the future structure of local government in Bedfordshire kicked off at the High Court today (Friday) - with each of the county's four existing councils fighting for survival.

All four councils agree that the county's existing two-tier structure - with Bedfordshire County Council at its summit - has to go and that a new "unitary" structure should be introduced.

But that would mean a maximum of two councils in the county and none of the four want to be the one to face extinction.

Bedfordshire County Council says that, whilst it should reign supreme over the whole county, Bedford Borough Council, Mid-Bedfordshire District Council and South Bedfordshire District Council should all be abolished.

However, the borough council says it should gain unchallenged control over the county town and its environs, and South and Mid-Bedfordshire have proposed a merger so that they would rule over a large area, to be known as "Central Bedfordshire".

At London's High Court, the county council is challenging a decision of Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, which it fears could ultimately lead to it becoming a thing of the past.

In July last year, Miss Blears rejected the county council's proposal to take unchallenged control of the entire county and said she was "minded" to let Bedford Borough Council's plan proceed.

James Goudie QC, for the county council, said Bedfordshire had, in effect, been "pushed to the back" of the queue, although, he claimed, its proposal was the only one which met all the five criteria laid down by the Secretary of State.

The borough council's attempts to meet the Government's "affordability criteria" were "at best a bit wobbly" and the QC argued that Bedford had been given an unfair "opportunity to beef up their case" before the decision was taken.

In any event, said Mr Goudie, the Borough Council's proposal "made no sense" in the absence of a viable proposal as to what should happen to the rest of the county.

The Secretary of State, he added, had rejected South and Mid-Bedfordshire's proposals at an early stage "for very good reasons".

Describing the two district councils' plans for change as "absolutely hopeless", Mr Goudie said they had only met one of the Secretary of State's criteria.

The district councils' proposals had appeared "dead, buried and decomposed" at that stage, although Bedford Borough Council's plans were "allowed to limp on".

However, Mr Goudie argued the Secretary of State had later unexpectedly "resurrected the corpse" of the district councils' plans for a "Central Bedfordshire" local authority in a way that was "grossly procedurally unfair".

Arguing that the county council's proposal was the only one to meet all the Government's criteria, the QC said it had simply been "irrational" for Miss Blears to reject it.

Her statement that she was "minded" to let the borough council's proposals proceed amounted to "a fundamental distortion of the decision-making process" and a violation of the county council's "legitimate expectations that the stated criteria and procedures will be fairly applied and followed".

Has the Secretary of State followed her own published procedures, as she should have done, Mr Goudie argued that "the only possible, and lawful, outcome would have been that the county council's proposal should be the proposal that would proceed to implementation".

He added: "In the absence of a viable competing proposal, the county council's proposal should have been selected for implementation".

Lawyers for the Secretary of State say no final decision on the county's future structure has yet been reached and that the county council's judicial review challenge is "premature".

And the legal team representing the boroug
h council and two district councils argues that, not only was Miss Blears fully entitled to do as she did, but that, in the light of more recent events, Bedfordshire's court challenge is "academic".

Since the disputed "minded to" decision in July last year, Miss Blears has carried out "preliminary assessment" of the borough's council's plan and has put out a final consultation paper.

Although the county council's previously rejected proposal has been resurrected in the consultation paper, Mr Goudie insisted that had not "cured the unlawfulness" of the July decision.

He told top judge, Sir Robin Auld: "The county council refutes any suggestion that the claim is now academic, or has been superseded by subsequent events".

Recognising the importance and difficulty of the case, Sir Robin is expected to reserve his judgement on the county council's challenge until a later date.

A book worth buying

There are many books on Bedfordshire, but one of the best, recently published, is the one pictured here. John Pilgrim is a well-known writer and broadcaster, and this well illustrated book is a real gem. Perhpas the only caveat is the title inasmuch as "We love Bedfordshire" has been one of the campaign slogans adopted by the County Council in its bid to swallow the whole of the county, including the Borough! But don't let that put you off!. It costs just under ten pounds, and the ISBN number is 13-978-1-85351-006-2 (bit of a mouthful!) Well worth buying.

Bedford River Festival 12th and 13th July

If you are visiting Bedfordshire this summer, book these dates! This event is run every two years, and last time attracted well over a quarter of a million people to the huge number of attractions. Entry is free of charge, and there is something for everyone!

More soon!

Kind regards

Robert