Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

The Jane and John show plods on ...
Local Government Minister John Healey called on the new councils to step up their efforts to explain to local people how these changes will make a difference to their lives - supposedly through better services, a bigger say in local decisions and stronger community leadership.

The Minister has seemingly been impressed with efforts to ensure the new councils will be up and running and delivering top quality services from day one. But he said more needs to be done to explain the changes to the public.

Locally, the new Wiltshire Council claim to have made £3.4m in savings through staff reductions. They plan to substantially improve their customer access, with a single telephone number for all services and customer centres in main offices and locations across the county.

Healey recently said: "In 100 days time 44 councils across 7 counties will be replaced with 9 new unitary councils, serving over 3 million people. This represents the biggest transformation of local government for 30 years and means that 60% of the population will be served by unitary councils.

"This isn't a bureaucratic process of redrawing maps or changing names, and it's not a 24-hour makeover. This is about making a real difference to people's lives. These new councils have committed to delivering better services, giving people a bigger say in decisions that affect them and making combined savings of over £100m to be re-invested in front-line services or used to reduce pressure on council tax. Through stronger leadership they will help their communities ride out these tough economic times.

"From my visits to all of these areas I have seen first hand the huge efforts being made to ensure councils are not only up and running but also delivering top quality services from day one. The final countdown begins today but I am confident plans are on track and efforts will continue over the next 100 days. I want these councils to also use this time to step up efforts to tell local people about the changes and how they will benefit."

Wiltshire people will know whether or not the Conservatives at County Hall were right if their council tax bills go down next April. If our council tax bills go up, as expected, then we'll know that Jane and John were wrong. By then it will be too late to do anything about it except to punish the Conservatives through the ballot box in June. I would suggest voting for an Independent candidate if your Division has one standing!!