David Sparks, the new Labour leader of Dudley Council

14 Duncombe Street

Wollaston

Stourbridge

DY8 3QU

12th June 2012

"Letters to the Editor"

The Editor

"Express & Star"

Dear Sir,

I see that David Sparks, the new Labour leader of Dudley Council, wants to shake up the council's committee system by ditching the five area committees. It may be correct that some of the boundaries of the area committees are artificial, but Mr Sparks should beware of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

For proper representation of local communities it is vital to keep the two area committees that represent the two historic boroughs of Stourbridge and Halesowen. These area committees were established following deeply felt local agitation for proper representation and local autonomy. Don't ditch these two area committees, Mr Sparks, but rather increase their powers so that local councillors can make genuinely local decisions.

A more positive reform would be to reinstate the specialist committees, which once enabled councillors to keep a knowledgeable eye on what the leading group and the council's officers were up to, and to abolish bogus "scrutiny committees" that never manage to scrutinise anything effectively.

Chris Bramall

Liberal Democrat candidate

Norton ward by-election