TALKING to people about the news that Tory bosses in Bucks are thinking of clamping down on the growing practice of councillors getting themselves elected to both county and district councils, it struck me from that they were making a good case for scrapping the county council and the district councils and setting up one or more unitary authorities.

Unitaries deal with everything that is done by the two tiers at present, from housing and community centres to roads and schools and already exist elsewhere in the country.

Most of the existing ones were set up when local government was reorganised by the Conservative government.

At the time district councils in Bucks were very keen on the idea of unitaries, provided they were based on district boundaries (more power for them) and that the county council disappeared.

Needless to say the county council did not share this enthusiasm and put up one hell of a fight. And, with all its friends being high-placed Conservatives, it won.

When I was working in another place and attended Aylesbury Vale District Council meetings you would not have believed the amount of sniping that went on about the county council most of it from people who were also county councillors.

So why now are the Conservatives I spoke to, most of whom are both county and district councillors, saying unitaries could be a good thing.

One thing is that the Government plans for unitaries linked to elected regional assemblies has become less likely, following the idea being soundly defeated in the North East in a referendum.

And second because it makes sense. Many people don't care who does what, as long as the job gets done And, whatever you think about the Government, it is encouraging district, county and parish councils to work together on issues that concern them all, such as community safety. Even the police and health are supposed to do this and not work in little ring-fenced enclosures where no one wants to know what the other lot is doing.

It's called Joined Up Government: horrible expression; good idea.

The two main tiers of local government are already working towards the day where if you telephone one council number regardless of which council it is, you will be connected to the service you want. And there are joint meetings of members and officers.

So, if working together is a good thing, why not join forces formally?

I like the idea of keeping the historic county; not having unitaries based on single districts which would involve too many expensive officers; and not a hotchpotch of joint districts which would mean Bucks would probably lose some of itself to Berkshire and some more to Milton Keynes.

And for those who cannot stand the county council, it would not remain. Everyone would have to resign on all the councils and stand again.