Leicestershire CC leader Cllr Nicholas Rushton has written to all districts within the county to say he ‘has no agenda' in a drive to unitary status urged by Conservative constituency MPs.

In an open letter sent following yesterday's meeting of the county council, Cllr Rushton said ‘he wanted to send a clear message' that the idea ‘has come from MPs for understandable reasons given the financial difficulties facing local services'.

‘The county council has no agenda in this matter and we understand the Government's position that local agreement is needed for any change,' he stated.

However, the Leicestershire leader has announced that independent research will be commissioned to examine the financial and service impact of other recent moves to unitary status.

Cllr Rusthon's decision to start a debate on unitary options follows a meeting earlier this month involving himself, seven Conservative Leicestershire MPs and the county chief executive John Sinnott at Portcullis House, Westminster.

The delegation discussed the difficult financial choices facing the county and one of the MPs suggested the county should examine other counties which had undergone the transition to unitary status. 

It is understood that another MP said it would be very hard for communities secretary Eric Pickles to refuse a request to move to unitary status if five of the seven districts agreed to such a change.  

Andrew Bridgen MP told BBC Radio Leicester afterwards that unitary status could be an attractive model capable of saving money over the longer term.

A county hall source told The MJ the review would be commissioned from an external expert such as a management consultancy or an academic institution, but experience from Cornwall and Wiltshire suggest annual savings of £20-25m would be achieved within two years.

A separate note has been dispatched to Leicester City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, confirming that his message to the districts should not be seen as intending the change the status of the city council.

Cllr Rushton told The MJ today that in the current climate it was necessary to end duplication of service provision.

‘Do I really need seven chief executives, seven housing authorities, seven people collecting council tax?' Cllr Rushton asked.

He suggested that it would be possible to get rid of the districts as separate organisations, but retain district councillors for the sake of democratic accountability.