Stratford councillors backing a north-south split when Warwickshire's councils are reformed have been urged to showcase the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Liberal Democrat cabinet – panel of councillors in charge of major service areas – at Stratford-on-Avon District Council this week declared its preference for a two unitary option for Warwickshire. 

At the request of national government, long-debated plans to scrap Warwickshire's six county, district and borough councils, which deliver services across two levels of local government, are being furthered. 

The plan is for all services to be delivered by one level of local government with the main question being whether one new county-wide council should do the job or whether the two socially and economically varied areas of the north and south should form their own unitaries. 

The current councils are tasked with submitting their preferred plans in November which the government will then decide between. Those submissions will be politically-led.

Prior to May's local elections, Warwickshire County Council – led by the Conservatives at the time – embarked on plans to justify a single unitary for the whole county.

The five districts and boroughs, whose political leaderships feature the Tories, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party, jointly commissioned a report from Deloitte to weigh up the pros and cons. 

Its initial findings show that a county-wide unitary would achieve greater financial savings but that two unitaries would be the best option against all other criteria – best governance, public service delivery, local identity, enabling devolution plans and stronger community engagement. 

On Monday, the Lib Dems in charge at Elizabeth House voted in favour of engaging residents, stakeholders and businesses on the basis of going for two councils – one to cover the districts of Stratford and Warwick, the other to cover the boroughs of Rugby, Nuneaton & Bedworth and North Warwickshire.

They reflected that feedback on the doorsteps had been "overwhelming" in stating preference for two councils but the Tories remain unconvinced, group leader Cllr Daren Pemberton questioning the Deloitte report's lack of detail on services currently delivered on a county-wide basis. 

"There is not unanimity of views," he insisted.

Cllr David Curtis replied: "There are reservations, it is not a perfect report and we do need further information, but it is an independent report… and I think it is responsible for us to take those recommendations on board.

"We need to have an open mind but we do need to move forward with some recommendations to the public. With this information presented to us, I don't think we can remain neutral." 

Cllr Andy Crump perhaps summed up the suspicions of those outside political spheres by saying: "The old cynic in me says whoever pays the piper calls the tune.

"I'd bet that when the final report from the county comes out, it recommends a single unitary. Just call me a cynic." 

He also called for "more explicit" information, particularly on the potential impacts on the fire service, an area he was responsible for as a county councillor until the Tories lost power at Shire Hall in May.

On the assertion that residents back two unitaries, he added: "My residents are giving a different view.

"Whether that is because they live 20-odd miles from Stratford, they would find it easier if the new unitary was based in Warwick, but they feel they would prefer a single unitary.

"Some of the firefighters and residents that I have been speaking to can see the benefits of economies of scale. 

"I urge that information is shared and sought between the districts, boroughs and county councils so that whatever proposals (come forward) are meaningful and based on accurate information." 

Leader Cllr Susan Juned insisted that would happen.

"I am perfectly happy with the idea that we should have accurate information," she said.

"I am a scientist. Data matters to me, making sure we have accurate data and that people are properly informed is absolutely crucial as far as I am concerned."

Cllr Pemberton again picked up that baton.

"It is legitimate for this authority to come to a view, which it does," he said.

"What I haven't heard is the commitment in the engagement process to showing the other side, the balance, so that the public can make an informed choice.

"If you are going to give that commitment I am happy, but what I am hearing at the moment is that you have a position, you will engage on that position and that position only. I don't believe that serves the public well."

Cllr Juned replied: "It is my commitment that both the pros and the cons will be put forward.

"It is something that I would take for granted, that we would inform. We are not people who would just push things through without making sure people are aware of the pros and cons.

"The Deloitte report already does that and is the basis for a lot of the information that you can put to your residents."