Sponsored by
Call for a referendum on alliance is defeated
A MOVE to give High Peak residents a chance to have their say on the merger between High Peak Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands was voted down by Tory councillors on Tuesday.
Labour councillors had called for a referendum on the merger between the two councils.
Labour group leader, Cllr Caitlin Bisknell said: "This issue has never been put to the public – it was not part of the Tory manifesto in 2007, and it is only right that local people should have a direct say on how their council is run."
The Council initially agreed to share a chief executive, but that soon expanded to include not just the executive management team but business managers and heads of service. Now all staff were being asked to sign up to common terms and conditions of employment. The only group left untouched were the elected councillors themselves, she said.
"Assurances were given that the merger could be undone," said Cllr Bisknell.
"But that is now looking extremely unlikely. High Peak has lost a number of key staff – all the casualties have been High Peak employees, while others are looking for jobs elsewhere. With 60% of High Peak services now managed by Staffordshire Moorlands, High Peak is in grave danger of losing the expertise it needs to serve our residents.
"Much has been said about potential savings, but what about the costs, including the failure to win Government cash – and jobs for local people – from the Future Jobs fund because the bid could not stand up under two different regional administrations?"
"What kind of message are we sending to residents and staff when we are paying our chief executive a salary on a par with London Boroughs who run education and social services, as well as services the borough provides?"
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Buxton
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy snow
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: West
