SIR – I was surprised and disappointed when, a couple of weeks ago, my old sparring partner John Phillpott showed himself to be confused when writing about regional government, unitary and local authority. He seems to believe that a local authority (or council) cannot be unitary (or allpurpose).

Presumably, he is ignorant of the status of Herefordshire County Council – which is a local authority that happens to be unitary.

Regional government is about a strategic local approach and would form a buffer against the central government which is at present, in our UK system, so controlling of local councils. Within a West Midlands Region might be, for example, unitary authorities such as a Worcestershire one (and Herefordshire, which got there first).

Best of all, a wellfavoured model has many more – and much more powerful – small community authorities (such as parishes and towns, but better than at present) at the grass-roots and feeding in to these unitaries.

We should beware of being against regionalism just because we perceive it be something that those nasty foreigners have dreamt up. It could make a great difference to democratic involvement and accountability, both here in Worcester and elsewhere.

DAVID BARLOW,

Worcester