AS the endless war of words and empty promises bombards the ever more sceptical voting public, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that politics is designed to deliberately disengage all but the few that gain most from the shameless quest for power.

Whilst many opt for less torturous ways of passing time (inserting needles into one's eyes, perhaps), than enduring yet more meaningless political meanderings, we, closer to home, have more pressing matters.

Far from the heady hyperbole of Westminster we have head teachers from some of our best Wiltshire schools feeling compelled to write open letters to the press in the hope that the reality and impact of budgetary decisions will be averted before the damage to our children’s education is realised.

Adequate funding for education is surely a priority for us all. Along with housing and health, education forms the bedrock of a civilised sustainable society. Kandu’s work finds us involved in the very heart of the community, developing creative processes of consultation with myriad partners, from national government departments, universities, town and county councils to forward-thinking housing associations such as Greensquare and Curo. Without exception, education is highlighted as a priority, an essential component in giving communities the best chance of developing the life and intellectual skills in order that they might thrive.

If that is so, and obvious to what might be described as your average person on the street, how come politicians from whatever persuasion seem to believe that there should still be a debate regarding budgets when it comes to such matters? In reality the country, counties and towns are run by civil servants of one description or another. When you consider that MPs and councillors may only be in office for a relatively short time, it is probably a good thing that full-time professionals who know what they’re doing handle the continuity and consistency of the administrative infrastructure.

For instance, at present, parliament and its MPs have been disbanded and each party uses the opportunity to race up and down the country inventing different ways to undermine each other whilst at the same time presenting facts, figures and fantasy to manipulate the minds of the masses. Meanwhile, the public servants carry on regardless and run the country.

This surely begs the question, if the country runs regardless of the politicians, are politicians really important? There must be a more efficient method of government, one less susceptible to the temptations of the vested interests and manipulations of the power-hungry and selfish. Perhaps education, housing, health and social care should be taken out of the remit of career politicians, ring-fenced safely out of the reach of political expediency and social engineering and given their rightful sacrosanct places amongst that which we value most.

That way the courageous head teachers from Wiltshire or anywhere else won’t have to be put under more stress and distracted from what is already an immense task of ensuring the best possible education for our future generations, by feeling compelled to write letters of dire warning.

The young people of Wiltshire, and particularly those in Chippenham, must feel very undervalued; schools feeling the pinch, no youth service to speak of, the skate-park still a distant dream after years of campaigning while, before anyone even knew they needed it, a splash pad that excludes teenagers, magically materialises in John Coles park. It's time to value our young people and legislate for their needs as if they mattered and not because national or local politicians think it’s a vote winner.

A government’s function is to serve, provide services for and protect a country’s citizens, yet most people don’t trust politicians, they rank low in terms of social worth and acceptability. Teachers, nurses, carers, etc rank high. How come the politicians we trust so little are entrusted with that which we value most?