Name of new Devon super council is revealed – and you never would have guessed it!
The government has confirmed the names of the four new unitary authorities for Devon, as well as a huge drop in the number of councillors
The name of the new ‘coast and countryside’ council which will rule North Devon and Torridge has been revealed following a letter from the government.
The newly-named and yet to be born ‘Devon Council’ will come in to being in April 2028, covering everywhere except Exeter, Plymouth and Torbay.
The other three unitary authorities will be called Exeter Council, Torbay and South Devon and Greater Plymouth.
These will be the legal names given to them as part of the local government reorganisation process but it is understood that once established, councils can apply to change their names.
The letter also revealed councillor numbers would be slashed drastically by around a third, from a total of 481 to 321.
The letter suggested the government wishes to push on with the creation of the new councils in spite of the threat of a judicial review by Devon County Council, which if it happens, has to be formally launched by mid-October.
The new super-sized Devon Council would be responsible for all services across a huge patch stretching from Lynton in its very north to Salcombe in the south as well as all points east and west apart from the bits added to the expanded city councils.
Devon Council will have the most councillors at 103, with Exeter Council the next largest at 86, followed by 68 for Greater Plymouth and 64 for Torbay and South Hams.
In a letter from the government to the chief executives of all Devon’s existing councils, it outlines a wish for joint committees to be created to help set up the new councils.
The Devon Council will have seven members from across the district areas and another seven from the county council, giving it the biggest joint committee.
The government has confirmed £900,000 of funding per new unitary – meaning a total of £3,600,000 for Devon – to support the formation of the new councils, while there could be an additional £150,000 per new unitary to help ease the changes in children’s and adult social care.
The letter demands further information from Devon’s councils by August 17 to help it create a Structural Change Order, which is the formal mechanism for creating new councils and which will go through a full Parliamentary process.
Elections are set to be held for the new councils in May next, but the councils won’t fully take over until April 2028.