The Rt Hon Ruth Kelly
Secretary of State
Department for Communities and Local Government
Eland House
Bressenden Place
London SW1E 5DU

Dear Secretary of State,

Unitary Authorities – the Wiltshire Bid

I enclose two letters from my constituent Lord Congleton, dated 29th March 2007 and 4th April 2007.

Lord Congleton makes a strong case against a Unitary Authority for Wiltshire.

Lord Congleton speaks from experience. He was a member of the Salisbury and Wilton Rural District Council and was appointed by four local councils to chair the Joint Committee which brought into being the new Salisbury District Council in 1974.

This followed the Redcliffe-Maud Royal Commission Report on reorganisation of Local Government. Another local resident at the time was Dame Evelyn Sharp (Baroness Sharp of Hornsey) who reported that the Royal Commission had looked at Wiltshire and had decided for mainly geographic reasons, that Wiltshire was so “cut in half” by Salisbury Plain that the north and south of the county was so dissimilar in character and outlook that it would be ill suited by a unitary form of local governance. The decision of the Royal Commission was to form four District Councils leaving the County Council (with different functions) in place.

Of course, things have moved on since then. However, the basic arguments about the efficiency and representational nature of local government remain largely unchanged. Wiltshire would be ill suited to a single Unitary Authority, as I have argued in previous correspondence.

I would be very grateful if you would bear Lord Congleton’s case in mind as you come to a conclusion about the suitability of Wiltshire for Unitary Status.

Yours sincerely,