Opinion : The turkeys haven’t voted for Christmas but Easter is in the diary….

Once again the saga of what do to with the structure of local government in Buckinghamshire has taken another turn.

Last week the four district councils announced that they favoured the creation of two unitary authorities to run services in Buckinghamshire. One authority would take care of the north of the county while another would look after the south. This proposal we see the demise of the current over arching County Council.

Of course the current County Council has its own idea of how services should be restructured, under their plans the four district Councils would be abolished and a new ‘super council’ would be created to look after everything in the form of Buckinghamshire Council.

Isn’t it funny how the proposals of each of the two parties involved (the current County Council and the District Councils) each see their own organisational level in the current government structure expand to take control while seeing the demise of the other party.

One thing that nobody seems to deny is that the current two tier government structure is needs fixing.

Both tiers are looking for change yet and at the same time seeking to expand their current activities. Something has to give. Indeed it’s almost as if the turkeys haven’t metaphorically voted for Christmas but Easter is in the diary.

So what will happen? Well, with two opposing proposals and neither side willing to back down a decision will most likely be made by a third party namely the Government in London.

If this scenario was to be translated into a scene from a movie surely it would be from the 1994 film ‘Pulp Fiction‘ where Butch Coolidge and Marsellus Wallace (aka the two tiers of local government) are held captive in the basement of a pawn shop. Their captor Zed (representing public opinion, service delivery and value for money) is unable to make a decision and calls for a third party, namely The Gimp, to help.

While all the palava about what should happen is being played out all the people of Buckinghamshire want is for the bins to be emptied, the potholes in the roads fixed, the schools to educate our children and services to be run as efficiently as possible.

Maybe the two reports already produced should be sent off for recycling allowing a third party that is independent, focused and able to take impartial decisions to take a look at the most practical and efficient structure for local government in Buckinghamshire? And no, I don’t want a Gimp employed to do the aforementioned task.

I wonder how much time, money and effort has already been spent producing the two opposing reports? How many bins would the money have emptied? How many children would that money have taught? How many potholes would the money have mended?

Whatever decision is arrived at yours truly is looking forward to Easter, when just like Christmas most people sit down and eat a turkey however at Easter time Father Christmas does not arrive bearing presents. Bring out The Gimp….

What do you think?

*My blogs are published every Tuesday and Friday evening around 8.00pm here on the WycombeToday.com website.

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