Councillor Carl Les should stay on to see through his 'super council' vision for North Yorkshire - Yorkshire Post Letters

The Council Leader of North Yorkshire County Council, Carl Les’s, vision for a super council will soon become a reality (The Yorkshire Post, August 28).

Carl Les has been the real driving force for combining local government services provided by seven district councils into one unitary local authority.

I am somewhat disappointed that he is not taking the first term of office as leader of this ‘monster authority’, to utilise his leadership skills in facilitating both councillors and new officials through the transformation period in order to honour his promises of savings to council tax payers.

We can all come up with ideas, but to make them work it needs true commitment and the ability to enthuse team leaders to make it happen or work.

A four-year term should be sufficient time scale to iron out day-to-day operational problems without using the combined funding reserves of the seven Councils.

By not standing for re-election as leader of the new Super Council, Coun Carl Les, is not completing his personal objective of making this organisation fit for purpose, before handing over to his successor in 2027!

From: George McManus, Esplanade, Hornsea

We should welcome this development but only if it’s the precursor to real devolution for the county.

The abolition of seven district councils will mean that hundreds of democratically elected, and accountable councillors, will be replaced with no more than a few dozen.

Such a democratic deficit cannot be allowed to go through purely as a cost-cutting exercise. The people of North Yorkshire need excellent services delivered by accountable and transparent means.

For many years, people like myself have campaigned for real devolution where strategic decisions are made in Yorkshire and that such decisions are financed by block grant from Westminster.

But the principle of democratic accountability can only be satisfied if such powers are overseen by an elected assembly.

Only then will real levelling up and prosperity be delivered for the people of Yorkshire.