WE all know that County Cllr Niki Penney is keen on Lancashire County Council but it really shouldn't be necessary to abuse those who previously worked hard for her election to defend it.

Her letter last week ignores the fact that really big decisions which profoundly affect the lives of people in the areas of planning, economic development, strategic investment, transport, housing, waste management and culture are taken at regional level and not by an increasingly impotent and irrelevant county council.

This is a fact of life which will continue irrespective of which Party is in Government because the regions present a good level for key services.

The referendum on elected regional government next autumn give us an historic opportunity to ensure that key decisions are taken by elected representatives rather than by unelected officials. This is vital if Lancaster is to get a fair share of something like £2.5 billion of expenditure per annum.

Lancashire County Council is responsible for social services across 12 district councils that are responsible for housing and across eight primary care trusts responsible for health. This creates a system which, in some respects, is over centralised and, in others, fragmented and incoherent.

On the basis of seven years as an MP, 10 as a city councillor and 15 as a Lancashire social worker, I can tell you it doesn't work.

We can begin to do better for local people by establishing a unitary local council which combines housing and social services and basing it on the boundaries of the Morecambe Bay primary Care Trust.

I have no personal interest in this issue. By the time any changes are realised I will be living some distance away - but I have to say I believe that Cllr Penney is utterly wrong.

Hilton Dawson, MP for Lancaster and Wyre.