Letter: The Government's hidden agenda on county councils

Sir: Beneath your front-page headline (22 November) you quoted a minister as saying: 'Nowhere have we received any indication from anyone that county councils must stay.'

In our submission as a parish council to the Department of the Environment's consultation paper on The Structure of Local Government in England, we wrote: 'The parish council considers that the county council has an important strategic role to play . . . and should be retained.' (12 June 1991).

We concluded: 'It is essential that, where present authorities are serving their communities well, this arrangement should not be altered for the sake of change.'

I wonder how many similar comments the Government has not received.

Yours sincerely,

BOB DAVIES

Chairman

Kemsing Parish Council

Sevenoaks, Kent

23 November