Unitary status debate - Warwickshire County Council

The statement:

"All local authorities are having to deal with the reduction in public sector spending arising from the recent recession.

"Rugby Borough Council has met this challenge by focusing its services on what our customers want. We have improved services at the same time as reducing their cost.

"Warwickshire County Council has responded to its need to make savings by opening a debate about the structure of local government in Warwickshire. This is a distraction from the job in hand. No structure of itself delivers either good services or savings.

"The Government has made it clear that local government reorganisation is not on its agenda and I believe that the general public, as well as our councillors and officers, will be better served by concentrating on our services rather than getting involved in a theoretical debate.

"We will continue to work with our partners in the private and voluntary sectors in driving growth and improvements to services. The City Deal and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to which we contribute actively and positively, are a much better vehicle for joint working than this debate."