The leader of an Essex district council has called for a reorganisation that would see his own authority scrapped in favour of a unitary arrangement.

In an interview with local newspapers, Cllr Graham Butland, the leader of Braintree District Council, has spoken out in favour of scrapping the authority, and for two-tier governance arrangements in Essex to be replaced with two unitary authorities.
   
Cllr Graham Butland claims the council, which will detail an action plan for coping with further £1.5m cuts over the next two year years from 2015/16, would have to consider the possibility of further service cutbacks and outsourcing in the near future.

‘You don't need one county council and two unitary authorities,' Cllr Butland told the Essex Chronicle.

‘I'm a member of a district council and county council and I would abolish them both tomorrow and have one council for the north of Essex and one for the south, for example,' he added.  ‘That would be much easier and save more money.'

Mr Butland said Braintree had not been forced to make use of New Homes Bonus cash to tide the authority over financially, and said the council welcomed ideas from members of the public on how best to cope with ever tighter budgets.

The suggestion comes at a time many councils across England, such as districts within Buckinghamshire, are independently pressing to merge with neighbouring authorities.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has deliberately avoided talk of a further round of local government reorganisation, instead citing a duty of co-operation at local level between districts counties and local enterprise partnerships.

However, it is understood that senior DCLG figures would support voluntary moves towards the creation of new unitaries.