CHESHIRE’S Labour leader says local government restructure must not affect services.
County Councillor Derek Bateman, who represents Central & Westminster division in Ellesmere Port, said: “I welcome the Government’s final decision on the future of Cheshire and the fact that doubt has been removed for everyone concerned.
“We must now do our best with our colleagues on the district councils to make this option work.
“But restructuring of services which results in a reduction of standards or increase in Council Tax will be strongly resisted.”
Cty Cllr Bateman added: “The past decade has been extremely unsettled for our staff who have rarely been working without the threat of reorganisation hanging over them.
“Despite that, they have continued to provide some of the best and most outstanding services in this country and we will want to do everything we can to ensure they are fairly treated during the reorganisation.”
Cty Cllr Sue Proctor, the Lib Dem leader at County Hall, blasted the decision to split Cheshire in two as “appalling” and claimed it “flies in the face of reason and commonsense”.
