I’m sorry, but I’m going to talk about Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) again. I know for most people it’s incredibly boring. As long as services are delivered within budget, why should you worry about the minutiae of who governs what? However, the government, having confirmed what we already knew, that Westminster is not fit for purpose, seems hellbent on dragging local government down with it. What is it about the system that promotes self-interest and ambition over competence and the priority to support the most vulnerable? Why do we perpetuate the myth that Whitehall knows best when all the evidence is to the contrary?

I lasted about 10 minutes in the last webinar from the minister. If I’d stayed longer, I probably would have smashed the screen. The sentiments sound fine. Devolution, democracy, efficiency. But the reality is everything we’re being forced to do will achieve exactly the opposite. Decisions will be taken further from the people, decided by distant, faceless officials, censored by an ever more controlling centre.

Take planning. If the government has its way, choices will be made at the highest level of the new bureaucracy, tightly controlled by dogma, ideology, and vested interests. Elected councillors will be removed from the process. Local communities will have no say. The talk of devolution and increased democracy is double-speak of the highest order.

It’s as if the key words and phrases have been fed into a computer and regurgitated for a hopefully gullible audience. The policies and processes themselves are totally detached from reality.

At the start of the process, I was sympathetic to the idea of unitary councils. But the more data we see, the more it’s clear the best solution for large rural areas is the status quo. It may work for metropolitan areas, but the sheer geographical size of Devon means we need two-tier arrangements. Large unitary councils will mean a loss of democratic accountability and sense of place.

This process is failing across the country. Conflating the devolution agenda with LGR is a disaster. Will the government take stock? Unlikely. A cynic might think it’s become a way to cancel elections. It was done last year, although we avoided it in Devon.

Things can change. Plymouth is proposing a ridiculous land grab into the South Hams, and Exeter something similar. Crackpot ideas, but the perfect excuse to cancel elections. I can just see Labour and Conservative politicians telling us it’s for the best. Nothing to do with the fact they’d get a drubbing in the polls. Of course not.

If it’s all such a good idea, why not let the electorate decide?

As a new administration, we’re creating our strategic plan. All councillors are involved if they choose to be. We know we have to get the bread-and-butter issues sorted, like potholes, but there’s an appetite to prioritise children’s services. The council has had a poor track record in recent years, and we’re working, officers and councillors to make things better.

The last thing we need is the pointless distraction of LGR. Just when we need stability, the government chooses to shake everything up. I wouldn’t mind if the evidence showed it made a difference. But it doesn’t. Just another example of government and the civil service changing things because they can. Pathetic.