VALE Royal Borough Council's preferred option has 'several strengths' according to the Boundary Committee report.

The report said: "Peer review reports from the Improvement and Development Agency point towards good partnership working by the districts which, we acknowledge, could help in the creation and performance of the proposed unitary authorities.

"MORI public opinion research generally supports the view that the socio-economic profiles for the districts in each 'pairing' are similar.

"All have good communication links within and between each other and some existing travel patterns for work, shopping and leisure activities already overlap.

"We note that the districts' proposal referred to strong collaborative working between them and that current local service providers share common priorities and/or membership.

It was argued that the creation of three unitary authorities would provide the opportunity to reduce the number of partnerships, thus reducing partnership fatigue.

"The districts also commented that a reduction in the number of partnerships could aid economies of scale in relation to development, support and scrutiny functions."

It adds: "However, the proposal has a number of weaknesses in our view.

"There was a lack of persuasive argumentation and evidence about how large-scale services, such as education and social services, would be delivered under a three unitary authority pattern."

Of the three options, the borough council's bid is the most expensive to run, in terms of 'being in business', clocking in at £16.8 million.