• JOHN Lawson hit the nail on the head in his March 21 letter: for too long Camden has been ruled by its officers, rather than our democratically elected councillors, (Councillors squeak when they should roar!).

But that is only because the councillors have allowed this power shift to happen and so, as the mantra is these days, they should take back control.

Council services are vital in making our cities work safely and well. As just one example in London, over 100 youth centres have closed since 2011, with the awful rise in knife crime being one side-effect of these cuts.

And we all know that vital services for both younger and older people are being cut, while rough-sleeping is on the rise as council houses are being sold under the Tory Right-to-Buy policy, which has seen a third of such homes end up in the hands of private landlords.

So reversing these cuts is the first target. In addition councils must be given the funds needed to provide any new services the government dumps on them.

Of course, getting the money for council budgets is only the first step, we also need our councillors to monitor the activities of the officers in all departments more strictly, making sure they are at least looking at the key issues and not making cuts or doing lousy deals just to save money.

In my career I worked for major multi-national companies and all had management structures: devolved departments dealing with the real world, but with a reporting structure so that the top management could be sure the departments were developing the policies needed to achieve long-term success.

Camden needs to restructure to bring this about, then we might see better services for all our citizens, from toddlers to older people, including improved housing provision by ending bad deals with developers, allowing them to develop major sites while providing few homes for local people, such as is now happening at Swiss Cottage.

It’s too late to do anything about this awful set of blocks, but perhaps next time Camden will see more balanced outcomes?

DAVID REED
Eton Avenue, NW3