Well the rhetoric behind Cameron’s crusade to bring power back to local people is proving to be just that. Local Tory Councillors at Arun are pushing further powers to the Joint Western Area Committee and allowing all 3 tiers of local government to vote on issues that affect the daily life of local residents. However at West Sussex County Council the Tories have thrown the toys out of the pram and propose to set up their own local committees for just County Councillors to make local decisions at County Level.

 JWAC was working well with proper grassroots input to the process and some very lively discussions. However I think the last two were possibly more lively than they can take. Frank open dicussion and the possibility of losing control of the situation clearly does not appeal to them despite all those sitting around the table holding an elected mandate in one form or another. The way forward for local government in this area is supposedly for closer working between the different tiers some hope when Tory councillors can not agree amongst themselves at different tiers.

 I find their attitude disappointing and not within the spirit of partnership working. I will be over the next few weeks be making my feelings clear and to both Arun and West Sussex.