SO, the region’s new ‘super council’ – supported by hardly anybody in St Helens and opposed by 700 locals who in January wrote in protest to the government – is to be called ‘Liverpool City Region’ after all.

That’s thanks to the Labour leader of St Helens Council who proposed the motion at a meeting.

This is yet another reason why power, influence and finance must be taken away from the town hall and brought closer to the people.

At present too many people in St Helens, whether in or out of work, are struggling to get by. Household bills continue to rise, while wages stagnate and welfare cuts hit those already on the lowest incomes.

At the same time, councillors’ allowances exceed half a million pounds and a compulsory 10 per cent levy on individual councillors’ allowances means that the Labour Party itself indirectly receives more than £50,000 a year from local council tax payers.

And while many families have been forced into the hands of loan sharks and high street predators promising quick fixes that turn into living nightmares, all local councillors have received new iPads and iPhones – whether they can work them or not.

A cornerstone of St Helens Green Party’s election manifesto will be to introduce some belt-tightening at the town hall and use the savings to fight poverty.

A Green St Helens Council would seek a reduction in the number of councillors to two per and invest the savings – more than £100,000 per year – with credit unions and other anti-poverty groups to help them help others. We would not be paying off peoples’ debts; we would be enabling them to transfer spiralling debts to socially-beneficial organisations offering low, manageable interest rates.

Francis Williams,

St Helens Green Party