Taxpayers will foot bill for unitary authority

WE were filled with dismay to learn that Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton has written to Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, proposing the creation of a unitary authority for Leicestershire – all with the pretext of saving money (“Letter that could change future of county” Leicester Mercury, October 2).

Your article states that the initial set-up costs would be £18 million, which I suspect Leicestershire council taxpayers will be expected to pay for.

This £18 million is only an estimate, so it could cost £20 million, or £25 million. Who of us has heard of a project coming in on budget these days?

There is also the suggestion that it could save taxpayers £30 million a year after it is set up. It may very well not save any money. There is no suggestion that Leicestershire council taxpayers will save any money, and that their council tax bills will be reduced.

Whatever happens, it will be local council taxpayers who will be expected to foot the bill.

The present system of local government is not perfect, but it works fairly well, and is tried and tested, and will continue to work. We are governed by local people, who live and work locally, and consequently care about our borough and its residents.

We have no desire to be governed from afar, by councillors who have no personal motivation to look after our Oadby and Wigston borough, who don’t have a stake in our community and just want to centralise power.

A unitary authority may be new, but that does not make it better or more efficient. Please stop this nonsense and its bogus promises to save money.

Terry Hewes, Carol Hewes and Brian Hewes, Wigston