Dear Editor, David Cameron has recently announced plans for a radical shake-up of local government, pledging to free local councils from central and regional control.  

One major change announced by Mr Cameron is the removal of regional government. Labour’s creation of a regional tier of government has proven to be the most effective of anti-localist measures and it is not surprising that Cameron - if he becomes Prime Minister - promises to unpick this most costly and unnecessary layer of government ‘piece by piece’.

Regional Development Agencies have been particularly expensive and, despite the huge cost involved, have not done the job they were created to do.

Our own regional agency, Advantage West Midlands, is a good example of this, spending about £300 million of taxpayers’ money a year.

Under a Conservative government, AWM will be stripped of its planning and transport powers and these powers will be handed back to local councils. The money it receives will also be handed back to local councils to spend on helping local economies as they see fit.

As a result, councils will no longer be forced to work arbitrarily across geographical boundaries that do not make sense locally. Instead, councils will be given the power to establish their own local enterprise partnerships to take over development functions of the RDAs. 

In short, the Conservatives are committed to stripping RDAs of their powers and for these powers and budgets to be exercised at the lowest levels possible.

As David Cameron makes convincingly clear, the best solutions come from local people. Left to themselves, local councils and communities, rather than faceless regional bureaucracies, have a proven track record of knowing how best to deal with the problems they face. 

Michael Burnett

Prospective Conservative European Parliamentary Candidate for the West Midlands Region.