Member

In the government press release that went with the announcement of Surrey being split into two unitaries, there was a quote about the savings that were being made by newly created unitaries—I think Northamptonshire was one and Buckinghamshire was another. I have to say, the figures that were provided were for savings nowhere near as big as the ones that my own council has had to make in the same years. To put this into context, my council had to make savings of £40 million last year alone. Bucks made savings of, I think, £75 million over five years, but that is a drop in the ocean compared with what some of us have had to do. This does not show that creating bigger authorities makes savings. In fact, all the evidence shows that, over the long term, that is not the case.