Yorkshire devolution would just create another expensive tier of local government: Letters

From: Donald Wood, Barnsley.
Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry addresses a One Yorkshire Devolution conference in Leeds earlier this year. Picture by Simon HulmeNorthern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry addresses a One Yorkshire Devolution conference in Leeds earlier this year. Picture by Simon Hulme
Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry addresses a One Yorkshire Devolution conference in Leeds earlier this year. Picture by Simon Hulme

I totally disagree with your on your views on devolution for Yorkshire, as expressed in your recent leader column (The Yorkshire Post, Now is the time to empower us with devolution deal, July 29).

At this critical time in our country’s future the last thing we need is another expensive tier of local government.

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Analysis: Why Boris Johnson may have given the game away on Yorkshire devolutionThe local government leaders who propose this are not running their councils very successfully. Council tax is going up way above inflation, making everybody worse off.

Having devolution would create cushy jobs for some of them with a massive secretariat to run it. No thank you.

What we do need is reform of local government.

At the moment it is far too expensive, with too many paid councillors doing not much work. With the cabinet system, most of them are just lobby fodder – that was

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s idea – another folly of theirs.

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Also paying councillors was a big mistake for it attracted all the job lots of very undesirable people – it certainly did in Barnsley where I live.

One councillor per ward, not three, would be sufficient if we are to continue paying them. Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley, has a second job – mayor of the Sheffield City Region. What a non-job this is.

These need abolishing, in my opinion, as they are a waste of public money.

Since the creation of Police and Crime Commissioners, crime has soared in Barnsley so they are also a waste of public money.

These people are sponsored by political parties so they need to go as well.