Government Reaction
On 2 March 1995, Gummer announced to the Commons that the government would not fully accept the Commission's proposals and certain districts would be referred to the Commission for a further review. He also announced John Banham's resignation in protest at this.
For Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Dorset the government did not accept the Commission's recommendations for an entirely unitary structure, and decided to only make Luton, Milton Keynes, Bournemouth and Poole unitary, with the rest of those counties remaining two-tier.
The proposal to abolish Berkshire County Council was accepted by the government. The Commission had recommended five unitary authorities in Berkshire, based on the districts of Newbury, Reading, Wokingham, Slough, with Bracknell Forest and Windsor and Maidenhead districts merging to form a "Royal East Berkshire". Gummer decided to make each district a unitary authority. The proposal for an entirely unitary structure had been strongly supported by the County Council earlier, though with time and a change in political composition of the Council, it changed its mind and took this decision to court, seeking to have the entire Order declared invalid. The High Court ruled in their favour, but the Court of Appeal quashed this decision. This led to the implementation of unitary authorities of Berkshire to be delayed from 1997 to 1998.
In Hampshire, the Commission had proposed unitary authorities for the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton, which were accepted by the government, and the larger and more rural New Forest district, which the government did not accept.
In many counties that were to remain unchanged, the government had reservations about specific districts. Gummer identified as candidates on his 2 March statement the districts of Basildon, Blackburn, Blackpool, Broxtowe, Dartford, Exeter, Gedling, Gillingham, Gloucester, Gravesham, Halton, Huntingdonshire, Northampton, Peterborough, Rochester upon Medway, Rushcliffe, Thurrock, Warrington. Shadow Environment Secretary Frank Dobson suggested that Cambridge, Ipswich, Norwich, Oxford and The Wrekin be added to this list: Norwich and the Wrekin were. Spelthorne was added at the request of the local MP, David Wilshire.
Read more about this topic: Local Government Commission For England (1992)
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