THE government minister responsible for communities and local government, David Milliband, recently hosted a meeting in Birmingham to discuss the
future role and reform of local councils.
Unfortunately, he forgot to invite
anyone from Bromsgrove District Council. Maybe he overlooked the fact that
the council is currently in voluntary engagement with central government?
There is a hidden government agenda to replace the existing two-tier council
system with unitary authorities and regional government. This is evidenced
by the county council vying to take over services presently provided by the
districts in order to make it a credible choice for the future.
It has its sights set on the jewel in Bromsgrove's crown - the refuse and
recycling collection service and they would like to become both the
collection and disposal authority for waste. What would residents of the district think about yet another wholesale
change to their refuse service?
The current council tax system is not sustainable and small authorities like
Bromsgrove constantly struggle to balance their budgets; while pensioners
and people on fixed incomes have to skin and scrape to fund unaffordable
council tax increases to pay for the inflation-proofed pensions of retired
public employees.
Make no mistake, the plans to merge ambulance services, relocate the fire
service control room, merge the existing primary care trusts and create one
large police force for the West Midlands are all part of the Government's
cunning plan to introduce regional government by stealth. It denies it, of
course.
We must make sure that any future re-structuring of services is workable and
desirable. And the views of the affected local communities must be sought
and respected. Let the debate commence.
Stephen Peters, Chairman -
UK Independence Party Bromsgrove
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article