Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
31 January 2010
08:3739190HOWARD
Please don't play on words, and as for dictatorship I leave that to the msan who closed the toilets, he appears happy to be the dictator.
On the Issue of councils, I have always stated that to have 3 councils, with all those officers many on wages we would dream about, plus all those cllrs, needs change.
I have always believed in making decisions at the lowest level possible, and so would support the Town council carrying out many new roles.
The KCC could be disbanded and services put to the District/Town councils.
Im sure the savings would be big, and with the will to make it happen, it could see big changes in this area.
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
31 January 2010
10:1639198Going back to Carter's suggestion, i.e. councils should be responsible for the delivery of a greater range of services; I do fully understand where he is coming from; however the county council (for me) is the wrong authority to be considered for this; as in many ways it is too large and far removed from the people it is providing services to.
If he had suggested the creation of say 2 or 3 unitary authorities covering Kent, perhaps lined up along similar geographic boundaries as 1 or more of the Health Trusts, that absorbed the roles and responsibilities of not only the district councils they replaced, but also took on responsibility for the roads, PCT's schools, etc. with police & fire service control being shared via a joint board of the 3 councils, then I think he might have been onto something; as it would have reduced the burden of the cost of administration on the tax payers etc, whilst being large enough to benefit from economies of scale.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
31 January 2010
11:1339204I think that is the way it is going Ross,but at the moment to get 3 or 4 Councils agreeing on the way it is done is slow,then one takes umbridge and pulls out,which means it is difficult for them to work out costs.Shepway have just pulled out of one agreement recently leaving Dover Thanet and Canterbury.
The dis advantage as I see it is a Councillor will have 3 or 4 times as his Ward,making it difficult for people like me to stand as it would become almost a full time job,and of course having a full time Council job means bigger allowance as I couldn't give up my proper job on my Council allowance of £60 a week.
I think it is in Northumbria where they have just gone from 4 District Councils to one large one,and from what I am hearing it is a disaster.Also in the Boston(Lincs) area the same thing and it now looks as if that grouping there may collapse as well.
Another problem would be if one area say Canterbury had a larger population in compered with say Dover,they would have more Councillors so would attract more of the advantages,I am not against the idea but it needs alot of work and thinking abou.
Instead of 4 Chief Excutives and 4 Lead Oficers you would have 1 Chief Ex on a mega salary and 1 lead office for each dept earning as much as a Chief Ex does now,so there wuld be savings but possible not as much as you would think.
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
Guest 693- Registered: 12 Nov 2009
- Posts: 1,266
31 January 2010
13:1039213This is a topic Vic has posted on himself: we have Parish Councils, District Councils and County Councils as well as Central Government itself..........are we not a tad overgoverned, and do we really need so many levels of Government?
Vic proposed abolition of the District Council with greater power given to Parish Councils. Aside from the awkward issue of how many jobs would be lost as a result of this, I'm bound to say that this makes sense, if only from a fiscal point of view: how much money would be saved by doing this? If you took away the fortune paid to the Chief Executive, that would make a start! At some stage, I believe reform of local Government is inevitable; removing either District or County Council and giving more power to local Parish Councils, run by local people who have a greater feel for their neighbourhoods, seems like a far more efficient system to me. Isn't this how the French do it? The local Mairies seem to have much greater powers than our local Parish Councils, and from what I can see they seem to run far more efficiently.
True friends stab you in the front.
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
31 January 2010
16:1539232Fair comment Andy, however you still would need a regional organisation to delay with the co-ordination of roads, police fire & rescue etc.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi