In Gloucestershire we have what’s called “two tier” local government. It means we have 6 District Councils and a County Council. In many parts of the country they are moving to a system of “unitary” local government — where you only have one tier. This could be a single Gloucestershire Council, or it could be, for example, two unitary authorities one based around Gloucester and one based around Cheltenham.

An analysis at the Department for Communities and Local Government says that two unitary councils rather than seven (six districts and one county) have saved taxpayers £16 million a year in parts of the country like Cheshire. Similar savings could be made here. But some people feel this would diminish the history of the large county of Gloucestershire. I’d like to know your views on unitary government. Would it be a good thing or a bad thing?

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