New research proposes joining East and West Dunbartonshire councils to form new single authority

A new study has recommended that East and West Dunbartonshire be combined into a single local authority.
East Dunbartonshire Council HQ 
Kirkintilloch
20 01 18
KGEast Dunbartonshire Council HQ 
Kirkintilloch
20 01 18
KG
East Dunbartonshire Council HQ Kirkintilloch 20 01 18 KG

The study by the University of Sheffield proposes Scottish local government be reformed to reduce the total number of separate councils.

The paper, which was published earlier in October, contains proposals to replace Scotland’s 32 councils with 19 new bodies.

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However, East Dunbartonshire Council is not aware of any serious effort to put these plans into effect.

Depute chief executive Ann Davie  said: “We are aware of a report which has been published by academics from the University of Sheffield. We will continue to liaise with COSLA and the Scottish Government as appropriate.”

The proposals were first put forward in 2013. This latest study is entitled “Regions From the Ground Up: A Network Partitioning Approach to Regional Delineation” and is available at journals.sagepub.com

Neil McGrory , Local Democracy Reporting Service