Jim McMahon

Jim McMahon

Labour (Co-op) — Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton

Speaking in the House of Commons on 15 January 2025

Debate

Local Government Reorganisation

Contribution

The point that my hon. Friend makes about balancing identity is as much about culture and approach as it is about where boundaries for councils are drawn. Sometimes, the identity of a council will match closely with the identity of a place, but often it does not. In urban, rural or coastal areas, many communities are far more nuanced or localised, and there can be some quite tense local neighbourhood disputes as a result. Any reorganisation has to respect the historic locally felt identity of every part of the new area, not just the area in which its headquarters might be based or that its council might be named after, and holding firm on that has to be part of the approach.

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