SHOULD Weymouth and Portland continue to have a joint council after local government reorganisation?

That’s one of the questions that will be considered as part of a review into how local authorities will function in the future.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has voted to join a unitary authority and a meeting of the management committee agreed to recommend proposals to carry out a review to take the first steps towards creating a town council.

Jacqui Andrews, corporate manager and democratic and electoral services, told the meeting at the borough council offices that it is a ‘long process’ and is being started now so that a new town council is up and running by the time the new unitary authority is created – expected to be 2019.

She added: “The review will look at whether [the town council] covers the whole of the Weymouth and Portland Borough area or whether you want to consider just Weymouth as Portland already has a town council.

“It will also look at electoral arrangements, wards, the number of councillors that would serve and also the name.”

The meeting heard that while some councillors had expressed an interest in retaining the word ‘borough’ in the name to mark the area’s history, this may not be possible under town council regulations.

Further reports are expected to be brought before a management committee meeting in March.

Cllr Jeff Cant, leader of the borough council, said: “Any report must include clear indication that we intend to review the functions of Portland Town Council. 

“We need to seriously consider in parallel what functions we might consider devolving to Portland.”

The report discussed by the committee includes a proposed timetable, which states that draft proposals for a town council will be published in May and discussed by the full council in June. 

Then there will be an eight-week consultation with Portland Town Council and local groups such as businesses and residents organisations. Revised recommendations will be published and final recommendations will be published in March 2018. 

Elections to a new Weymouth Council would take place in May 2019.

The committee voted unanimously in favour of the recommendations, including a community governance review to be undertaken, and a steering group is created to oversee the process. 

The matter will now be discussed by full council.

The proposals for the Dorset unitary have now gone forward to be considered by the Secretary of State or Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid.