CLAIMS REFUTED

RE your story, "Claim that new council could mean tax bill hike" (Echo, May 7), in which Leslie Rowe, a Green Party candidate in last week's local elections, claims that North Yorkshire County Council's proposals to create a single unitary authority will lead to 4,600 redundancies in the seven district councils.

This is nonsense. The county council's proposals envisage an overall reduction in the local government workforce (across all seven district councils and the county council) of just over 300 jobs - most, if not all, accounted for by natural turnover, etc.

Mr Rowe further accuses the county council of failing to factor into its proposals the cost of a new IT system. Again, this is nonsense.

We have taken account of all such infrastructure costs in our business plan, which has been scrutinised by our own financial experts, those of the Department for Communities and Local Government, and the Treasury, which concluded that the bid for unitary status was one of only three in the whole of England to score the highest ratings for affordability, strategic leadership potential, engagement with neighbourhoods and service delivery.

Our proposals will result in more efficiency, more accountability, less bureaucracy and economies of scale which will be passed on to council tax payers. - John Marsden, chief executive, North Yorkshire County Council.