Councils - We need to see changes

His answer that he would fully support any change in the depth of local government structures was refreshing and honest.

Local government has to change. There are too many levels and, although Coun Leyland argued that the size of Lincolnshire necessitated this, that argument has been proven wrong by many other areas of the public sector and distance is not an argument to use if a system has to be made to work - the NHS is one example.

Which brings me on to another point. If, with restructuring, more services are to be handed to local level - such as LCC’s attempt to hand street lighting to Horncastle Town Council last year - then we need people who are able to deal with issues such as this for the benefit of the town.

At the recent town council meeting I attended, I witnessed too much ‘double dipping’ - representatives for the town who obviously have a conflict of interest as they are also either county or district councillors - this is not healthy in a democratic system.

Alan J Lockwood

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