PROPONENTS of a plan to maintain Devon’s council boundaries have claimed other proposals could lead to “unavoidable winners and losers”.

A host of ideas are set to be submitted to the government this month by Devon’s 11 councils about how the county’s administrative boundaries should be redrawn.

Councils have been asked by Westminster to submit proposals about how they should be reorganised as part of the biggest shake-up of local government in half a century, and with this month’s deadline fast approaching, town halls across the county are making their final cases about why their plan makes the most sense.

Ministers want areas such as Devon to have fewer, but larger councils, which will be unitary, meaning they will be responsible for all the services within their boundaries, therefore eradicating the present system of two tiers of local government that involves different councils overseeing different services in the same area.

Devon County Council’s ‘New Devon’ idea – nicknamed 9-1-1 – would mean the current county council footprint would be retained, but instead of it being overseen by nine councils – the county authority and eight districts – just one unitary council would be in place.

Under this plan, those nine would be alongside Plymouth and Torbay, which are already unitary and would retain their existing boundaries.

“Any split [of the Devon County Council area] means creating unavoidable winners and losers,” said Councillor James Buczkowski (Liberal Democrat, Cullompton & Bradninch), the cabinet member for finance.

“This is because while debt can be shared equally by head of population, assets can’t, meaning community infrastructure like schools, buildings, roads, social housing, leisure centres and more might not be equally split.”

Addressing one of the main rival proposals – dubbed the 4-5-1 scheme which has been branded as Reimagining Devon: Believe in Better – Cllr Buczkowski said it appeared “sound on the surface” but once analysed, created issues.

This proposal, which would create a unitary council covering the South Hams, Teignbridge, West Devon and Torbay, another unitary covering Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon and Torridge, and leave Plymouth as a standalone council, would be the “wrong” route, Cllr Buczkowski said.

“The county council as it is now covers high-risk services like adult and children’s social care, and we have responsibility for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and that doesn’t track population,” he said.

“The proposed northern council in the 4-5-1 idea would inherit higher need, higher costs and lower income from day one.”

Cllr Buczkowski’s suggestion is that even though populations can be split equally, their needs – and crucially the costs of servicing those needs – do not necessarily split equally.

Devon County Council leader, Councillor Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge), said at the end of the process, which will see government choose its preferred option for Devon, “we all have to come together”.

“Our duty is to deliver the services that our residents deserve,” he said.

“Within that is proper funding for local government and the fact children in Devon get less than nearly every other area in the country is grossly unfair and affects their life chances.

“As we move forward we should accept that there will be fantastic opportunities to deliver services that really reflect the wants and needs of our communities. It would be remiss of us not to take that.”

Although Torbay is included in the 4-5-1 idea, it has also put forward its own proposal for how Devon’s councils should be reorganised, while Plymouth and Exeter have also submitted ideas.