Ipswich BC chief executive, James Hehir, has slammed the Government's decision to refer the council's unitary bid to the Boundary Committee.

Local government minister, John Healey, announced last week that five new unitaries would be created, and bids by Exeter City Council and Ipswich BC would now be examined by the Boundary Committee because neither of them presented ‘sound financial cases' in their current form.

Mr Hehir expressed his surprise, because the council received a final draft of the parliamentary order to create a new unitary Ipswich last month.

‘As far as Ipswich was concerned, we had supplied all the financial and other information required months before, and had held very positive discussions with DCLG staff who had been very helpful throughout,' he said.

A leading recruitment consultant has said interim management was key for all councils affected by reorganisation.

Jonathan Flowers, managing partner at Veredus, told The MJ: ‘Any senior departures won't be replaced by permanent staff, but the closedown or merger roles will be attractive to interims.'

Read James Hehir's thoughts on his week here

Time line:
Cornwall, Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire & Wiltshire.
Once laid, orders will be debated in both Houses of Parliament in January.
If approved, the orders will come into effect the next day. In Durham and Northumberland, elections will take place in May 2008.
The new authorities will go live on 1 April 2009.
In Cornwall, Shropshire and Wiltshire, elections will take place in May 2009.
The implementation executive will continue to function until councillors are appointed after the May 2009 elections.

Bedfordshire
Deadline for responses is 17 December.
There is no date for completion, but the DCLG believes it is possible to implement everything by 2009.

Cheshire
The year after next (2009) remains the DCLG's aim for implementation.

Ipswich and Exeter
The DCLG aims to make a formal request to the committee to start its review in the new year.
Implementation is unlikely before April 2010.