Wherever Liberal Democrats win in local government elections we champion both value for money AND responsive local services.

More than any other political party, we believe that councils have a duty not just to listen to and consult local people, but also to involve you in all the key decisions (like the Local Plan for new housing) that they take for your community.

Councils in Kent have now submitted their ideas to central Government on how our local government should be re-organised. So it is disappointing to us that they have made very little effort to engage everyone in the development of their plans.

Local Government Re-organisation (LGR) is an idea of the Labour Government that we will have to implement. 

LGR is most likely to lead to the creation of 3 or 4 new Councils in Kent. They will take over the responsibilities of the existing District Councils (like Sevenoaks District Council) and Kent County Council for their area. Both the District Councils and the County Council will then be abolished.

The plan with the most support in Kent would create 3 unitary Councils, all of which meet the Government’s requirement for a minimum of 500,000 residents. This option was supported by Sevenoaks District Council at a recent Council meeting.

In West Kent, Sevenoaks would then join with Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Malling and Maidstone to form one new authority.

There are some benefits that might follow. For instance, LGR will end the confusion about which Councils provide each service. One authority will now be collecting and disposing of waste, maintaining roads and deciding planning issues, providing leisure and cultural facilities and working with the NHS on health, social care and well-being.

There could be some savings from reduced duplication and combining of services. However, experience elsewhere tells us that these take time to come through and are difficult to achieve.

But there is also a massive risk to our democracy, because the distance between every one of us and the people taking decisions on our behalf will grow. 

As always, Liberal Democrats will work hard to minimise this risk – and, given the chance, we will create better Councils that really work with residents for the good of everyone. After decades of Conservatives in Sevenoaks taking everyone for granted, that will be a massive improvement!

By contrast, ReformUK are proposing to magnify the risk many times over. 

They have proposed a single unitary Council for the whole of Kent, increasing the distance between communities and local government hugely and reducing the number of people with power over our area to a dangerously small number. There’s no democracy there!

Liberal Democrats are also pushing for improvement on two other fronts.

We want the Government to devolve powers and money to Kent as soon as possible. Kent should not be at the back of the queue.

There is no reason to delay on this. Policy and funding are best decided as close as possible to the people they affect.

And we will continue to press for maximum empowerment and strengthening of Parish and Town Councils. LGR should be a great opportunity for them to step forward and take on more responsibility.

Sevenoaks Town Council is already doing a magnificent job for the town. It should now be asked to take on some of the assets in the town that were created for the public good and are best managed by the local community. The Stag Theatre and Hollybush recreation park are good examples. There are many more right across the Sevenoaks District.

The structures of local government are never a hot topic. But these decisions will impact everyone’s lives directly – in the tax we pay and the services we receive.

Please let us know your views and help us to achieve the best results for our communities!