A New Year, but an old discussion: local government reorganisation, specifically unitarisation, has been back in the headlines of late, with the County Councils' Network (CCN) and District Councils' Network (DCN), among others, lining up their arguments, advocates and alternatives.

Despite being a chief of a district council, I have always been in favour of unitarisation, in part given my experience in London boroughs, but in truth, also arising from my frustrations working in a two-tier system.