Suffolk County Council's cabinet has formally written to the government expressing its preference for a single unitary authority to be created when local government is reformed.
Last week's full council meeting backed the 'One Suffolk' option - but that had to be formally endorsed by the cabinet before it is formally sent to the Department for Housing and Local Government on Friday.
This is the county's interim position on the issue - the final decision will be made in September after a detailed business case and consultations are carried out.
The county's borough and district councils reject the 'One Suffolk' bid, warning that it will create an authority that is too large to be considered "local."
They have come together to send in their own proposals for more than one council for Suffolk which will also arrive at Whitehall on Friday.
On Tuesday cabinet member for devolution and local government reform Richard Rout said: "A single unitary authority will provide the most transformative and robust platform for growth.
"It will give Suffolk a single, clear and coherent voice in making the case for investment.
"It will ensure that we act strategically and make the best investment decisions for Suffolk as a whole.
"One council will not only remove unhelpful local competition for funding and investment, but it will enable more effective and integrated strategic planning for growth, housing and education."
The move was unanimously backed by the Conservative-run cabinet. But opposition leader Andrew Stringer from the Green Party said this was the wrong option.
He said: "We are disappointed but not surprised that the county council administration are proposing a single unitary council for Suffolk before the business case has even been written.
"The administration says in its report that devolution and reorganization of our councils will provide a lifeboat for council finance – but this is not a given.
"Look at Birmingham City Council or Somerset, both facing enormous financial challenges after unitarization. The council’s Dedicated Schools Grant debt is forecast to be a whopping £358.7m by March 2028.
"There is also very little evidence that services are improved by creating ‘mega councils.’
"This group is in favour of devolution as a principle that genuinely empowers and brings decision-making closer to local communities, but this is not what is being proposed to date'
"We will fight for keeping the ‘local’ in local democracy every step of the way.”
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