Cabinet OKs bill to scrap provinces Move would remove layer of government from Constitution

(ANSA) - Rome, July 5 - The cabinet on Friday launched a bill to get rid of provincial administrations, widely seen as an unnecessary and expensive layer of administration.Italians voted to scratch the superfluous level in a referendum but the Constitutional Court last month ruled plans to scrap them were against Italy's Constitution.So the government has been forced to present a bill to change the Constitution to remove them.Eliminating the provinces would leave the central government to deal with the regions and municipalities without having to go through the provinces, cutting costs and red tape.Premier Enrico Letta's left-right government has pledged to cut political spending in the face of widespread voter ire over pork-barrel scandals that produced a huge protest vote in February's general election.Skeptics claim the savings from the move will be less than hoped and provincial workers will have to find jobs elsewhere in the civil service.