"It is very easy to take a snippet of ones presentation and interpret it in a particular way.

"To put my presentation into context and whilst understanding the need for the horrendous public sector spending gap to be dealt with, following the Labour Government allowing the economy to explode out of control the way they have, something coherent and radical has to happen.

"The borrowing against the national debt created by the Government this year is £175bn, that's very close to £5.5k every second. The national debt stands at over £1.2 trillion, therefore each and every man, woman and child has approximately £20k shackled to them.

"At present if you research the tiers of governance (not Government) that exist in the public sector you can quite easily score double figures, from;

"National Government to Whitehall to GONW to Core Cities (Lobbyist) to Northern Way to NWDA to Strategic Health Authority to 4 North-west to Learning & Skills Council to City Regions to Sub Regional Partnerships to Local Strategic Partnership to Local Authority to Primary Care Trust to Police Authority to Integrated Transport Authority to Fire Authority to Neighbourhood Partnership Working Groups to District Committees and last but more importantly to the people in the communities we are all suppose to be helping. Each and every one of these public sector agencies has a bureaucracy at its heart costing billions and billions of pounds of tax payer's money.

"This is totally unacceptable and clearly needs streamlining particularly at a time when we have to tighten our belts; how can we justify cutting frontline service to the most needy in our communities when the money that this country generates through taxation is the foundation for duplication and bureaucracy.

"I didn't specifically say that the RDA needs to be abolished, what I did say is the 'middle man' needs dealing with, I was asked a supplementary regarding RDA's and I did say the NWDA has done some tremendous work across the region, but invariably the local Council is, despite some peoples perceptions, the accountable body for most schemes that have been delivered; and yes they would be part of the restructure.  

"The restructure is something I fundamentally believe is correct, neither I nor anyone should try and justify duplication and bureaucracy when everybody has to tighten their belts.

"The models across both Europe and the devolved countries of Scotland and Wales prove how easy it can be to remove bureaucracy, and drive the public funding to the lowest level.

"In Scotland they have been radical in restructuring the governance of the country. The Scottish Parliament working with local authorities and other public sector agencies virtually removed the spaghetti maze that exists in England, they now have local authorities and the national Government working to a 'Concordat' agreement with clear broad-brush priorities that enable local areas shape their area for the future. The Scottish Parliament have removed ring fencing, initiatives and wasteful inspection regimes, and are really driving towards ambitious local and strategic priorities established with partners for the betterment of their local area. There is a clear trust between national and local Government, whilst they have identified some very stretching ambitious targets for the future prosperity of the country.

"A new clear structure could be implemented if we all believed in real localism (which I feel is just a buzz word in some quarters), unfortunately this could be another wasted discussion as people look to justify their control and bureaucracy at the expense of real change.

"Interestingly, others do share my concerns, with a piece of work being undertaken nationally by two companies, in a detailed way, regarding governance and devolution.

"In its entirety this is sensible and clear, in part the interpretation can be skewed how the commentator wishes to view it."