Devolution and accountability are not the same. The problem Magnus Linklater experienced was not due the level of government - the local council - but the way the law is administered

CR, berkshire, uk

It is a deliberate strategy to create a barrier between the rulers and the ruled.

Ramsey Pattison, Grays, Essex

For most of us the myth, which has currency now, of approachable local servants, attentive to the concerns of the local community contrasts with the remote bureaucracy we know, whose officialdom illustrate the insolence of office and the proud man’s contumely.

I was once persuaded by a friend to telephone directly the Head of Social Services when I was faced with a desperate dilemma of care for a relative. This lady knew him from church to be pious and affable. He did not take my call but phoned me back directly, with a five minute tirade to berate me for my impertinence in contacting a high ranking officer like himself.

It is local government that provides the foot soldiers of the political correctness that oppresses us. They serve an abstract code not us. Thus for example they impose civil rights rulings on schools, in defiance of parents’ wishes, and destroy the discipline essential for teaching. Schools thrive only when they are insulated from L.E.A nonsense.

D Barfield, Greater Manchester, UK

Magnus .your time is of value! Calculate the number of hours
you spent dealing with their incompetence and send them a
bill for the value of your time.

John, LONDON,

Our Council in Solihull has local offices where you can speak to just one person, across a desk, and the person is knowledgeable and helpful. Solihull Council, too, has been financially screwed by Central Government, especially badly in our case because we don't vote Labour. However, the Council still manages to provide a human face and, more importantly, a human brain.

Other Councils should follow suit.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

Some very smug comment here that completely miss one big point. You don't have to deal with any given commercial operation, but you do have to deal with City Hall.

jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/USA

But how does the story end?

Neil, Oxford,

Yes but central government and its various agencies is just as incompetent and mired in endless layers of bureaucracy. They owe you money? Good luck because you'll spend months trying to get it. You owe them money, they will send in the bailiffs even for a few pounds. They will also do this if they have made a mistake and correcting the mistake is as frustrating as you suggest. The people we get to speak to are poorly paid, poorly trained and have no discretion to get anything done. Those with power and discretion cannot be reached, perhaps deliberately. Is this why so many benefits, rebates, grants etc go unclaimed every year?

Paul Owen, Birmingham, Uk

at least ML can speak person to person with Town Hall or local Councillor

try making contact with reality at BT. they have the perfect system of perpetual motion arriving no where. nobody is responsible so pass on to someone else - with the usual five minute plus wait.

JJJB Rotherham

John Barrett, Rotherham, South Yorkshire

OK so you've had a bad experience with a local authority. Have you never felt frustration with you electricity supplier, your bank, a shop or anything else that provides a service? Why is it that local councils are regarded as such fair game for criticism? Mistakes are capable of being made by anyone, in any walk of life and in any type of employment. In fact, in my experience, local authority staff are committed individuals who try to do the best they can despite being burdened with ever increasing responsibilities by central government. A private company would not last five minutes if it had to provide more and more services on less and less money. So, be fair and balanced, that's all I ask.

Peter, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

Not sure how this is an argument against local government. Bureaucracy at all levels can behave in this way (including in private companies such as utilities).

I suspect if local governments had more power then they would attract more competent councillors/mayors, some of whom would then help to improve levels of service.

On a different point, Magnus should have just phoned up once to ask his questions, then, upon not receiving a good reply, sent a letter by recorded delivery requesting proof of the veracity of the bill along with copies of all prior correspondence relating to the demand.

After all, worst case scenario is that they really go through with the summons, you go to court, ask for the documents there, they provide them and you pay up but in sure knowledge that it is legitimate. If they can't provide evidence then you don't have to pay.

James, London, UK

Some people's interactions with their local council are smooth and efficient, for others, it is slow and obdurate.
Journalists on the other hand, are content to parade their brush with petty officialdom, traffic wardens and goodness knows who else on the basis either that:
(i) it's my experience and therefore it is universal;
(ii) as a result of my experience i have some wonderful insight;
(iii) my individual and personal experience tells you something of wider importance.
(iv) it's news.
In fact, it's none of the above.
It's boring.
It's like granny complaining about her arthritis and saying it is a symptom of a wider malaise in the NHS.
So you've had an annoying interaction with your local council. What next?. Had a bad experience with a call centre?
Tell us about it, why don't you?

C. Nugent, London, UK

I could come up with an argument for getting rid of local councils completely, unfortunately there isn't enough room here, but it would cover such arguments as to why we have different education policies in different areas; why are planning issues not decided by planning professionals applying the law, but by local politicians making a 'judgement' (golf course anybody); why when road repairs don't get done it's somebody elses fault, but when they do get done it's the result of the councillor doing something; why different criteria are followed for the provision of care to the elderly in different areas........

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

You should try dealing with the DVLA, twice in the last year I have been forced to pay for their mistakes. They have a licence to print money.

Dr Lee, Bristol,

Contact the Local Government Ombudsman.. Thats the way forward...!

Dianne, Lancashire,