‘Irreconcilable’ differences sees councils rip up merger plans

Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick district councils have decided to shelve merger plans, blaming “irreconcilable” differences.

The plans were designed to save the cash-strapped councils around £10m per year and they sought Government permission last December to form the new joint council by May 2024.

It proposed the creation of a single district council covering the whole of South Warwickshire in response to the “very uncertain financial future” the two organisations are facing.

But today, the leaders of the two authorities have said that “in the interests of residents and staff” the proposed merger cannot go ahead as anticipated.

They said that following a meeting between council leaders and chief executives last week, Cllr Jefferson, leader of Stratford-on-Avon District Council wrote seeking a delay in the government’s decision to allow for due diligence to be completed.

But the letter was sent without the agreement of Cllr Day, leader of Warwick District Council, who had been invited to be a co-signatory.

A statement said: “It was understood by Cllr Jefferson that writing to the government unilaterally seeking to extend the current period of uncertainty would end the council merger process.

“Given that a response from Government was anticipated by the end of May in respect of the merger decision, Cllr Jefferson considered there to be a material risk that the further due diligence work would not be completed in time and if the Minister was minded to support the merger, there would be limited opportunity for Stratford-on-Avon District Council to withdraw at that point.”

The statement added that Cllr Day considered that the decision to merge had been made last December and that ongoing due diligence did not prevent the service integration progressing as planned.

“To ask Government to delay matters would create further uncertainty for all staff, especially those facing redundancy, and residents seeking assurances about local services.  In Cllr Day’s opinion, making a request for further delay would result in trust being undermined, making it untenable for the two authorities to further integrate services or merge,” the statement read.

Therefore, both leaders jointly concluded that the proposed merger cannot go ahead as anticipated.

The statement added: “There is a significant difference between the approaches and ambitions of the two councils that have proved to be irreconcilable, and this means that a joint request, subject to council approval, will now be made to the government to stop the merger process.”

Recommendations will be made to an extraordinary meeting of Stratford DC, and the AGM at Warwick DC on 11 May 2022.