I note with extreme interest Liberal Democrat Tony Powell, comments in last week's Cornish Times. His comments regarding justification of the level of council tax rises, the level of services provided and the cost of superfluous administration.
I particularly find Councillor Powell's points rather surprising because of the additional workload placed on local authorities due to the control freak mentality of the Blair government. Labour's imposed compulsory additional commitments mean local authorities have to spend more money on endless bureaucracy and less on public services. Examples of such bureaucracy include the cost of best value indicator exercises and additional auditing costs and preparation and costs of travel fare concessions.
At a recent meeting between Dr Jack Neal (Caradon's Chief Executive), Eric Lewis (Caradon's leader of Council), Ashley Gray (SE Cornwall's newly selected Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate) and myself all these imposed cost implications were elicited.
Therefore it is even more surprising to find a Liberal Democrat raising such issues when it is the Liberal Democrat party that consistently works hand in hand with Labour and supports Labour policies.
COUNCILLOR DAWN AUSTIN
Liskeard.