Unitary Status Disgrace
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From: Jim Harle
To: DevonStructures@communities.gsi.gov.uk
Cc: reviews@boundarycommittee.org.uk
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 12:24 PM
Subject: Shoddy and Bad Advice by the Boundary Committee concerning Devon
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Dear Mr Denham
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BOUNDARY COMMITTEE ‘STRUCTURAL REVIEW OF DEVON’ ADVICE GIVEN TO
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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The Boundary Committee informs me that it “has now provided advice to the Secretary of State for the structural reviews of Devon...” which is deplorable under the circumstances. The public was invited to state its views, and my submissions weren’t even read. Please examine my email to the Review Manager copied below. The Committee claims, “The Boundary Committee places great importance on ensuring openness and transparency in the way we deal with all representations”. As I was naturally expecting my views to be examined, this claim is patently bogus and misleading. I feel members of the public are being deceived.
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I sent you an email on 28th April 2008 following your visit to Exeter, when you were Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills. My question at the beginning of the third paragraph remains unanswered, as I received neither acknowledgement nor reply. This makes me feel members of the public are regarded as unimportant by this Government.
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Local government treats us in similar fashion. The Heavitree Arch is a glaring example of this, as may be readily discerned by clicking “Boundary Committee Link 45” in the email below. Citizens are clearly being snubbed.
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We are now being invited “to submit a view regarding the advice the Committee gave”. What a fool I must be to respond. Almost every indication, given the modus operandi of government demonstrated on a wide front, suggests your decision regarding unitary status within Devon was essentially made before the review process began. It seems pointless for us to try to engage with government which is becoming increasingly isolated from the electorate. Government seems to be promoting democracy elsewhere in the world, but denying it to the British. It has undemocratically surrendered our sovereignty to Europe so that we cannot even police our own borders effectively.
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There was a time when government and the bureaucracy were regarded as public servants, but they have since hijacked the country. Obsessed with money, a spendthrift government has wrecked our economy, borrowing recklessly and attempting to buy party political popularity with countless gimmicks. Obsessed with power, jobsworths make our lives a misery by their constant intrusions, fining us at every opportunity for the slightest misdemeanour. Obsessed with privilege, it takes from the poor to win favour with the rich, while pretending to support the working class. We are not being governed – we are being bullied.
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I have previously regarded Exeter’s Member of Parliament as a good constituency representative. His decision to vote with the government to close post offices against the interests of his constituents has shown where his loyalties lie. We are constantly being thwarted by our elected politicians. The great majority seem to represent government to the people, rather than people to the government.
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In short, government cannot see the wood for the trees. It has lost the plot, and cannot even see the folly of altering the structure of local government at a time of serious financial crisis. Government is squandering taxpayers’ money to fund its own political objectives. The current review is flawed for a number of reasons, especially as maintaining the status quo was refused to the public as an option. The Boundary Committee now grants you that option. so why was it denied to us?
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I am a member of the public, a floating voter of no party political persuasion, who has devoted much time to examining unitary status issues. To have my submissions set aside without being read causes me to feel completely excluded. Perhaps other stakeholders, such as institutions versed in ‘govspeak’, may have had their views considered, but I have absolutely no confidence that the views of citizens will have the slightest influence on your political decision.
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In view of the manner in which government has straitjacketed this so-
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Please have the decency to maintain the status quo, thus respecting people and the
current politico-
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Yours sincerely
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Jim Harle
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Secretary of State Advised of Boundary
Committee’s Shoddy and Bad Advice
(Sent 18th January 2010)