LETTERS County boundaries
Sir: I wish Christopher Booker had check- ed some facts with us before criticising the Local Government Boundary Commis- sion. Far from being over, as he implied in last week's Diary, its review of English counties is only just beginning. The Com- mission has not even considered Avon and Humberside yet. When it has, the public will have a full opportunity to comment on its draft proposals.
The Commission does take account of local people's views, as its reports show. It works to published guidelines, set for it by the Secretary of State for the Environ- ment, who takes the final decisions. The guidelines specifically include 'the wishes of the local inhabitants' — as well as the `pattern of community life' and the 'effec- tive operation of services'. The Commis- sion's job is to try to balance these often conflicting considerations.
The guidelines also make it clear that radical change, like the abolition of a county, 'will be appropriate only in very exceptional circumstances, where present arrangements clearly fail to provide effec- tive and convenient local government'. How this might apply to North Yorkshire or North Somerset is something the Com- mission will need to consider, but only after it has got all the evidence, including local people's views.
Geoffrey Ellerton
Chairman, Local Government Boundary Commission for England, 20 Albert Embankment, London SE1
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