On the letters page is a interesting letter from Michael Lynch of St Ives. I do disagree with much of the contents of his letter but his concluding paragraph strikes a cord with my views.
Consultation - There are real problems with information overload with consultations and i feel the consultation struck the right balance between content and overload.
Consultants - There is a simple choice over consultants. Whether these jobs can be done within the Council or not. That is a choice for the Council not the public. Consultants can bring in a wider experience. Otherwise the Council employs staff to cover these areas of expertise.
Councillors - The idea of cutting the number of Councillors is a good one. This will need a review. Les Councillors will lead to more professional local politicians. Democracy costs. Just cutting the numbers will not attract people into being Councillors. There is already a difficulty with recruiting Parish Councillors. As for the savings these are over estimated. Halving the number of Councillors would save £120,000. Roughly 2% not the 20% Michael claims.
District Wide - Is a valuable publication is used correctly. Currently it is not. The savings of cutting this publication would be small.
Cutting the bureaucracy - The council has already outlined proposals for cutting the bureaucracy.
Elected Mayor - I agree having an elected Mayor should be the way forward. I feel the name should be elected High Sheriff rather than Mayor for Huntingdonshire.
The consultation over the whether HDC should have an elected Mayor closed on 31st July 2010.
The consultation over the whether HDC should have an elected Mayor closed on 31st July 2010.
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