Who is behind Unitary Authority plans?

Shropshire County Council are pressing for a single Unitary Authority (UA) for the whole of Shropshire (excluding Telford & Wrekin).

Worcestershire Country Council is also now pressing for a single UA for the whole of Worcestershire.

The two main proponents of a UA for Shropshire are both members of the West Midlands Regional Assembly (WMRA) and interestingly, so is Councillor George Lord – the councillor proposing a UA for Worcestershire.

This begs the question, how much “encouragement” is being given from WMRA?  Abolishing district councils and replacing them with massive Unitary Authorities suits the regional assembly perfectly – less scrutiny, less people to lean on to get things done and the removal of the local tier of government goes some way to negating the argument that regional government is another wasteful, taxpayer-funded tier of government that we just don’t need.