Cheque the facts on banks’ intentions

Thank you for the recent article which stated this Government say cheque books may not be abolished in 2018 due to huge public protest. The Payments Council will be adding up how many cheques are used to see if there is a case for keeping them.

I have not seen this issue widely publicised. I think the general public are assuming that the banks have the power to gradually stop our cheque books by 2018.

My cheque book was not automatically renewed when I reached the halfway stage; I had to write and complain that I wanted another cheque book and it was unlikely for them not to renew.

A friend of mine said her bank is stopping cheque books this year. I advised her about your article and she shrugged and said her bank have definitely said they are not doing any more cheque books for any customers.

If all financial institutions behave in this crafty way, then there will not be many cheques used for the Payments Council to add up cheque usage. I did get my replacement cheque book, but before I did, I went to two other banks and asked that if I opened an account with them would a cheque book be provided? They both answered in the negative and that cheque books were being phased out by 2018 and would not be given to new customers,

Can we trust our banks to be fair and give customers opportunities to have a cheque book?

Council staff pay the price

From: Peter Horton, Sandy Lane, Ripon.

THE timing of your attack on council mileage rates (Yorkshire Post, May 21) is perhaps unfortunate in view of the relentless rising cost of petrol and diesel fuels.

Until I saw the details, I was unaware that Harrogate Borough Council was paying casual user employees at a rate of 65p per mile.

This compares unfavourably with the 40p per mile which is paid to elected members of this council, and has been paid at this level, to my knowledge, for at least the last four years.

My records show that, during this four-year period, the pump price of diesel has increased from £4.41 per gallon in May 2007 to £6.45 per gallon in May 2011, a price rise of 46.26 per cent.

The Government now recommends that the 40p rate is increased to 45p per mile. How generous – a 12.5 per cent increase against the 46 per cent plus rise in fuel costs!

In most organisations, car users have suffered a fixed mileage rate for a lot longer than four years whilst fuel costs have shot through the roof.

Few people can afford to drive for fun nowadays and it seems to me that the Government’s recommended rate is extremely miserly and totally unfair to people who must drive for work or council-related reasons.

NHS will lose expertise

From: James Deehan, Mozart Way, Morley, Leeds.

FOR the first time since this debate came about, someone (Jayne Dowle, Yorkshire Post May 23) has raised an issue that everyone else has missed completely.

The closure of the Strategic Health Authorities (SHA) and Primary Care Trusts (PCT) are going to leave the NHS vulnerable to mistakes that the SHAs and PCTs have become more than capable of dealing with.

The example given by Jayne illustrates at how effectively the PCT was in first, identifying the need for the new GP surgery, and second, the need to shut the surgery and relocate its service users as the surgery was no longer be viable.

Yes you can argue that mistakes like these should not be made, but who would have seen the plug been pulled on the construction of a large housing estate? Not myself, that’s for sure.

Regardless, what this issue has illustrated is that the current structure of the NHS has taken 62 years to develop into a well-oiled machine.

There are still mistakes being made, and in some places money has been spent unnecessarily, but with the SHAs and PCTs quick to act on the knowledge and experience they have developed, can the NHS really afford to take a risk in letting the GP consortia take over the services they already provide?

Personally, I think this could be the biggest mistake the NHS will make.

U-turn if you want to...

From: Trev Bromby, Sculcoates Lane, Hull.

For an unlucky 13 years, we had a virtual dictatorship. The Blair was not for (U) turning. Millions opposed his wars. He refused to listen to the people, much to the detriment of the country.

Now we have a leader who is prepared to listen (albeit through misguided proposed reforms) and review his reviews. The Opposition and media are screaming “U-turn!” Why? The sooner all elected MPs agree to review daft decisions, the better off we will all be. I am amazed at how knowledgeable Labour have become, in the year since they were ousted, on how to run the country.

In praise of pylons

From: Tim Mickleburgh, Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.

ARE electricity pylons (Yorkshire Post, May 23) really “one of the least loved features of the countryside”? To me, they blend in, helping to give a perspective to the often bleak fields in which they are situated. Mind you I also think that wind farms are not a blot on the landscape, so I am not expecting everyone to agree with me here!