Sir – Forty years ago on the first Thursday in May 1973, the big bang in local government took place across the UK. All the major urban cities became Metropolitan Councils, including Bradford and surrounding small authorities.

I was one of 93 elected founder member of Bradford Met in those inaugural elections, per chance it turned out I was the youngest Conservative councillor at the age of 30. I stood down from public life in 1980.

Posing the question, are we any better off with Metro local government, I am often told locally that Bingley was better under the former local regime, when all councillors were unpaid voluntary people.

Up to 1980, few Bradford Metro councillors received more than £500 pay per annum; today all of them get a basic minimum of £13,042 per annum, and ten receive more than £30,000.

Is there any wonder that the general public view councillors with disdain?

I believe that these significantly higher payments to councillors have contributed to the reduction of party membership over the last 20 years, for all the major political groupings, and I expect the decline to continue.

Alan Chapman, Beck Lane, Bingley