Why are our local councils - TVBC and HCC – so determined that the only solution to their budget shortfalls at this time is to cut essential services which will cause misery and suffering to all of us? 

And in several cases cutting the service will result in greater expense elsewhere, for example cutting the household waste facilities or charging for them will result in more fly tipping which will incur increased costs to the local council that they cannot avoid.

Why are they not offering their electorate the option of retaining services? There is nothing magical about the five per cent ceiling for raising of council tax so putting a larger increase to a referendum should be high on their priorities and it would test the willingness of the population to accept that services have to be paid for. 

How much are local councils bleeding money on delegated schemes to spend thousands of pounds that is not their statutory duty to spend? I discovered this scheme when I was intrigued to find what process was followed to make the decision to appeal a judgement against TVBC. It appears there is no process, and an ‘Officer’ can use a delegated scheme to instruct lawyers to appeal a court judgement that went against them without any form of process to justify the inevitable expense. 

With the household waste facilities example, it is clear today that the split responsibility between HCC (who offer the service) and TVBC (who have to pay the costs of dealing with fly tipping) is raising the total cost of the combined service.

So please, local councils, let’s see more cooperation, more visionary approaches to the provision of service, broader consultation with the public, and less short-termism in decision making on such important matters rather than concentrating on fixed costs alone.

The electorate should be given the opportunity of a referendum on choosing between local taxes limited to

Chala Fiske,
Woodington Road,
East Wellow

Send letters by email to newsdesk@romseyadvertiser.co.uk or by post to Editor, Romsey Advertiser, 5 Upper Brook Street, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 8AL.

All letters and e-mails must include full names and addresses (anonymous letters will not be published), although these details may be withheld from publication, on request.

Letters of 300 words or less will be given priority, although all are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, or legal requirements. We reserve the right to edit letters.