A council leader said no meetings have been held with his counterparts about merging Stockton Council with other authorities.

Councillor Bob Cook was asked whether there had been any conversations about a merger, and whether such proposals would be given “short shrift”. This comes as Conservative MP Simon Clarke suggested a merger between Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland Councils as those two authorities struggle to balance their books.

Councillor Marcus Vickers, Conservative member for Billingham West and Wolviston, put the questions to Cllr Cook at a Stockton Council meeting. He said: “I welcome all opportunities to work collaboratively and effectively with all partners and neighbours to ensure a greater quality, efficient and productive service to tax-paying residents of Billingham and Stockton.

“To ensure Stockton Borough Council taxpayers’ money is spent only on our residents, will the council leader confirm that no conversations have taken place with other local authorities with a view to merging, and assure our residents that any proposals to merge in the future would be given short shrift?”

Cllr Cook, also Labour group leader, replied: “I confirm that no discussions have been held with me with fellow council leaders about merging our council with other local authorities. Our focus remains on strengthening our services through existing and new collaborations, always with the best interests of residents in mind.”

He said he valued the success of long-standing initiatives like regional adoption agency Adoption Tees Valley and the Xentrall Shared Services partnership with Darlington. He added: “These projects identify our dedication to effective and efficient service delivery through cooperation.

“The Tees Valley Combined Authority is another example of how the collaborative efforts can significantly enhance our ability to serve to the community. While we remain open to exploring potential avenues for improvement, our current priority is the successful implementation and development of the Powering Our Future initiative, alongside our ongoing collaborative ways of working.

“As always, any significant changes in our council structure will be considered carefully keeping in mind the central government guidelines and our commitment to serving the residents of this borough.”

Cllr Vickers asked further: “Will the council commit that should any plans in the future be considered, they are given full public consultation and vote on the matter?”

Cllr Cook answered: “I’ve been through one reorganisation, there was the county council and district council in the 1990s. Whenever councils are going to merge or change, it always been the policy that obviously it’s a government thing that would come forward, similar to what it did in the 1990s when the Conservative government at the time got rid of Cleveland County Council.

“It was full consultation with the public and I wouldn’t see any other reason that you wouldn’t do that. It’s something that affects everybody, whether it’s this council or another council you’re merging with.

“It has to be up to the people of those boroughs or those residents or neighbours. They’re the ones that make the decision and not somebody from Whitehall who decides that these councils have to be joined together.

“One would assume the government would ask residents of an area if they do want to merge into a new council.”