By following these criteria a two-tier system was envisaged, with a regional authority for "technical" services and smaller local authorities for "personal" services. Many of the deliberations involved trying to find an optimum size for the sub-units of the proposed system. The general agreement of witnesses was that a basic "many-purpose" unit should have a population of between at least 250,000, many favouring a range of 500,000 to 1,500,000. It was stressed by council officers and teachers that authorities would need to be of a sufficiently large size to provide promotion prospects and attract good staff.
