LETTERSFrom David Pritchard, Ryde:
THE IW Council needs to make substantial savings. Might I suggest they do away with town councils and town managers.
We managed perfectly well using local councillors prior to the introduction of these posts in the 'years of plenty’. I worked in the Civil Service for nearly 30 years and I would not be surprised if the practice of 'use it or lose it’ still applies when it comes to the budget and government grants.
On many occasions we would try to think of all sorts of ideas to 'use up’ the budget prior to the year end, (and even 'forward spend’), on the basis of the fact that next year’s budget or grant would be reduced if you had money left over!
I understand town councils cost somewhere in the region of £250,000 pa each to administer and appear to be little more than another layer of bureaucracy, especially in regard to, for example, planning applications. Most noticeable recently was the fact year-round parking charges were introduced on Ryde seafront without consultation with Ryde Town Council.
If such a significant decision can be made without involvement of the town council you have to ask what purpose they really serve and are they really necessary?
I also suspect that council staff, given the right financial incentive, could suggest many ways where savings could be made, (exorbitant senior-level salaries?), rather than for the council to automatically assume that the taxpayer is able to just keep on giving…enough is enough.