MOST people in Harlow have little if any idea of the changes in who and how services provided by Essex County Council and Harlow Council are going to take place in two years’ time.

Councillors and officers across the county are spending thousands of hours and huge sums of money trying to put a case together on how the future should look but are clearly not coming to any kind of consensus.

Last Thursday, Cabinet members at Harlow Council voted to support the business case to divide Essex into Five Unitary Authorities which would see Harlow submerged in a new Unitary Council with Uttlesford and Epping Forest, centred in Harlow. This view is supported by Uttlesford council who are due to discuss the matter on 22 and 23 September.

Now you might think that just five miles away councillors at Epping Forest DC would hold similar views, but no, on Monday 15 September they are set to dismiss Harlows view and give their support to Essex County Councils plan for splitting Essex into just three Unitary Authorities, which would see Harlow submerged into a new Unitary Authority with Epping Forest, Chelmsford, Brentwood and Maldon, centred in Chelmsford. Later this month Councillors at Essex County Council are expected to endorse this submission to the Government.

There is a proposed that Essex will be divided into 28 areas, each with a Neighbourhood Delivery Committee, chaired by and consisting solely of Councillors. In Harlow there will be just one Committee. In the Unitary Authority which Harlow will form part of there will be 102 councillors of which just 15 will be in Harlow. These committees will have limited assets and responsibilities, mirroring much of what Town and Parish Councils already have across the country such as open spaces public conveniences, allotments and cemeteries.

These changes are being supported by estimates of savings with little evidence of how they will be achieved and even less evidence of how they will improve services. Elsewhere in the Country, councils are already finding it difficult to fill vacancies because redundancy could follow in less than two years and as a result are spending millions of pounds employing temporary staff.

Public consultation is set to take place later in the year. Given the chance I would urge you to support the view of Harlow Alliance, the Green Party, Reform, the Liberal Democrats and independent councillors across Essex and reject any of the proposed changes being submitted to Government.