Every now and then, someone comes up with a cunning plan to reorganise local government into a simpler, unitary structure.

One organisation serving a geographic area, with a single bureaucracy and a single set of costs, without the rigmarole of dealing with complex layers of local government seems to be the only sensible way forward, say the supporters of unitaries. Surely, they suggest, it would be more streamlined, simpler and easier for private companies and partners to work with – not to mention benefits for the public.