I REFER to your article in the AA of 13 May and firstly we do not need another layer of government in Hampshire.

What we really need is to get rid of the district and borough councils so that the local parish/town councils can do the work for which the 2010 Locality Act was designed; something on the lines of Wiltshire who are already a unitary authority.

Secondly £30 million over 30 years is not nearly enough money to ask from the government for the Heart of Hampshire combined authority.

This amount is so insignificant it will be frittered away on pay rises for the top tier of local government officers in the early years.

Lastly, we do not need an elected mayor. You only have to look at what happens in US politics to know that a Democrat president stands very little chance of getting any of his bills through a Republican Congress to know how well this will work with the Heart of Hampshire authority.

Veronika Pond, Andover