I WOULD like to congratulate Cllr Chris Steward on his success in becoming leader of City of York Council.

There is much to commend in the 12-point plan hammered out between the Tories and Lib Dems. A return to cross-party committee decision making; restoring ward funding and measures to increase domestic recycling are to be welcomed.

It is heartening that local politicians of differing hues see merit in proposals which could have been lifted straight from the Green Party local election manifesto.

I would urge Cllr Steward to add his name to a recent letter published in The Guardian by fellow Tory Cllr David Sparks, chairman of the Local Government Association, in which he calls on George Osborne to abandon plans for further cuts to local government funding.

Local authority budgets shouldered 40 per cent cuts over the course of the last parliament, and York Council should be praised for delivering significant efficiency savings in the face of such severe austerity.

Cllr Steward’s coalition administration will find it an arduous task to deliver on the promises within their plan, should the Chancellor decide to continue with his austerity drive, and implement another round of cuts on the same scale as experienced over the life of the last ConDem coalition government.

Baz Buchanan, Teal Drive, York.