BUCKINGHAMSHIRE could risk losing its voice nationally if it does not look into the possibilities of a council merger of some kind, fears the leader of Buckinghamshire County Council.

With more cities calling for devolved powers and funding from central government in the wake of the Scottish Referendum, Cllr Martin Tett believes Bucks needs to position itself to do the same - a task that would be made much harder if it retains the five disconnected voices of the county and district councils.

Cllr Tett told the BFP this week: "It’s very obvious that the big cities in the north and the midlands are lobbying this government - and indeed any future government - for really significant devolved powers and money following the Scottish referendum and they are really getting their act together.

"If Buckinghamshire continues to be five disparate voices I’m convinced we will lose out and our residents will lose out as a result of that."

While Cllr Tett acknowledged no change would come this side of next year’s General election, he said the councils should be working to explore the different options available, and the potential savings and efficiencies that could be achieved by some sort of merger between the authorities.

He said that would put the county in a better position after the next election, when the Government decides how to tackle the calls for devolution.

"We can say ‘don’t forget the shire counties, don’t forget Buckinghamshire - we are a real powerhouse for the national economy in terms of what we generate, in terms of incomes to the national exchequer.

"And we can be more productive and deliver better services to our residents if we get similar rights from central government. But we will only do that when we speak strongly on behalf of our residents with a united voice."

But he also believes the financial impact of maintaining the current five-council system is not acceptable to the county’s residents.

Cllr Tett said: "The current model of local government finance is, to me, completely unsustainable. Going forward over the next five years you cannot maintain the same number of services at the sort of cost they are given the current number of councils we’ve got and the costs associated with that.

"Whether or not that’s a unitary for the whole of Buckinghamshire, whether it’s a series of unitaries, whether it’s doing more with neighbouring county councils has to be up for grabs. You’ve got to do some ‘out of the box’ thinking.

"What is clearly not acceptable is to say it’s business as usual from now on because that isn’t doing the best by our residents."