Congratulations to the winners of unitary bids – and commiserations to all the ‘also rans'.

The DCLG has finally come up with a list of nine authorities to move forward to the next hurdle.
It is, perhaps, to its credit, that the department didn't use the reshuffle as an excuse to delay the unitary announcement – and prolong the bickering in the unitary bidding areas.
It is also a credit to local government that the ‘blood on the carpet' didn't reach the levels of past unitary fights. Relationships are already being re-built in an effort to get on with the job at hand.
There are some surprises on the list. Perhaps it was the Treasury intervention calling for a tighter rein on the cash which has made the list less predictable.
But the race is by no means over. The district bidders still have hoops to jump through to ‘demonstrate, conclusively, the financial viability of their proposals' – or really prove they can save lots of cash.
The hoops provide some handy breathing space for the Government. The DCLG makes it clear in the announcement that unitary status will not be granted until after the Local Government Bill gets royal assent – just in case anyone wanted to mount any legal challenges in that respect.
There are plenty of other potential challenges to the law which lie ahead. Devon is considering going to court because there is a lack of stakeholder support for Exeter's bid, and Durham City Council claims there is no public support for a unitary Durham.
It remains a mystery how you can ask for ‘stakeholder' support in this new era of community engagement without actually asking the public if they want unitaries.
The sooner the legal differences are resolved and the new unitaries get under way, the sooner local government can move on and concentrate on their services, citizens and areas.
Or perhaps not. Bedfordshire can still go for a unitary without Bedford BC. And there is still the question of Norwich City Council and its expanded boundaries. And Nottingham City Council has also expressed an interest in growing.
Rightly or wrongly, until there is a total unitary government system across the whole of England, this issue will continue to raise its head.
Heather Jameson, Deputy Editor, The MJ