Durham and Northumberland unitary authorities start today

Apr 1 2009 by Dave Black, The Journal

THE biggest shake-up of local government for 35 years comes into force today and bosses said it would be a success if nobody noticed.

District councils have been abolished in Northumberland and Durham and replaced by unitary authorities in both counties.

Months of elaborate planning and painstaking work to create the all-purpose super councils has had the primary focus of ensuring a smooth and seamless transition to a new system of local government.

For the senior town hall officials who have been labouring for two years to ensure that official V Day – Vesting Day – arrives with minimal problems, it will be regarded as a success if people across the county fail to notice any difference in the way their services are delivered.

April 1 is the most significant day for local government in the North East since the same date in 1974, when the last major shake-up of town halls arrived.

It involves the abolition of the existing two-tier structure of a county and district councils and their replacement with a new unitary authority responsible for all public services.

Northumberland County Council – together with the district and borough authorities in Berwick, Alnwick, Castle Morpeth, Tynedale, Wansbeck and Blyth Valley – have been consigned to the history books, along with their respective roles and duties.

In Durham, the county council has gone along with Durham City, Sedgefield, Easington, Wear Valley, Derwentside, Teesdale and Chester-le-Street.

From now on, every public service from street cleaning to education will be the ultimate responsibility of the new unitary authorities.

Council bosses have pledged that residents will not see any deterioration in the front line services they receive, for example, there will be no changes to the days on which they currently get their rubbish bins emptied.

In Northumberland, a new Homefinder service will be launched in the summer, aimed at linking people looking for a council property with available accommodation, wherever it is in the county.

And a new system of dealing with planning will see people in every part of Northumberland given the chance to speak in public on applications which affect them, either at four area planning committees or a central committee which will deal with major issues such as opencast mines and wind farms.

Local people will be able to raise problems and queries, pay bills and get information about council services at a county-wide network of One Stop Shops and customer service points.