Make Devon County Council a Single Unitary Authority

Background

The current proposals to divide Devon into four new unitary authorities should be dropped. Instead Exeter City Council should be abolished and Devon County Council turned into the unitary authority.

Additional details

The government plans to scrap two-tier authorities (multiple councils for one area) and create new unitary authorities (one council in charge of all local services in the area.) The current proposals to divide Devon into multiple unitary authorities will create artificial borders and leave deprived rural areas responsible for all their services without any major economic drivers to help pay for them. The government should instead make Devon County Council a unitary authority.