Why West Yorkshire Combined Authority ‘gravy train’ needs stopping

From: Michael Meadowcroft, Former Liberal MP for Leeds West, Bramley, Leeds.
Ben Still (left) runs West Yorkshire Combined Authority.Ben Still (left) runs West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Ben Still (left) runs West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Read More
Home Secretary Priti Patel must answer scrutiny request - Tom Richmond

TOM Richmond mentions the number of people on the payroll of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority which, as he rightly states, is currently in limbo (The Yorshire Post, April 11)

It is, alas, all too easy to forget today that this shadowy, unelected body, with its panoply of services and staff, is basically the successor to the elected West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council which, ironically, was abolished by Margaret Thatcher in 1986 supposedly to get rid of a whole tier of administration.

What is Transport for the North doing during the Covid-19 pandemic?What is Transport for the North doing during the Covid-19 pandemic?
What is Transport for the North doing during the Covid-19 pandemic?
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

All that happened was that the services previously carried out by a single, integrated, elected body, were still necessary and, consequently, a whole range of new bodies had to be invented, each with their own staff . What a nonsense!

From: Richard Reed, Harrogate.

THANK you to Tom Richmond (The Yorkshire Post, April 11) for questioning the productivity of West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Transport for the North during this lockdown.

I, too, look forward to their chief executives setting the record straight and explaining the work all their staff are doing in these unique times. Now is the time to plan for the recovery.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.