This may be the last occasion upon which I write in this column about local government reorganisation in Dorset.

Westminster has witnessed more interest in the affairs of our county during the past couple of weeks than I can recall at any time in my more than 20 years as an MP.

The piece of legislation involved is known as a “Statutory Instrument” – and it has to go through a series of processes in both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

The first of these is a debate in Committee. This takes place in a room well away from the main debating chamber. Normally, such debates in Committee about Statutory Instruments are short-lived events.

The minister explains what the Instrument is about. The Opposition spokesman sets out the Opposition’s view.

And, often enough, that is that. All done and dusted in just a few minutes.

It was not so in the case of reorganisation of Dorset local government. Much was said over the course of a full three hours.

MPs wandered in to see what was going on as news of the proceedings reached the rest of Westminster via social media.

But, the Instrument passed through the Committee without any vote to the contrary – as I write, it has received a huge majority of support in the ballot carried out amongst MPs as a whole, and has been given the approval of the House of Lords without a vote.

So we are, at last, in a position to move forward with this much needed reform that will give us the administrative savings we require in order to provide proper funding for frontline services.

This is a victory for common sense – and we should celebrate that fact. Now, the hard work of creating the new Unitary Authority can begin.