I want to write a macro to allow users to remove the first section of a
document (a drafting sheet). Any tips on the best way to do this to
retain the headers/footers on the sections which are left - and also is
there a way of 'instructing' Word to remove a particular section rather
than just highlighting and deleting the text and section breaks.

I suppose that I would start with something like this:

Sub ScratchMacro()
With ActiveDocument
.Sections(2).Headers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary).LinkTo Previous = False
.Sections(1).Range.Delete
End With
End Sub