Please clarify (From Malvern Gazette)

Please clarify

10:00am Tuesday 20th November 2012 in Letters

IN a letter published in the Malvern Gazette on November 2, Councillor Paul Swinburn makes some statements which call for further explanation.

He refers to “some 150 staff directly employed” by the council. Does this mean that there are a number of indirectly employed staff? How many?

He also claims that “we have reduced our staff and senior managers by 40 per cent in the past five years”.

40 per cent is a sizeable number and I would have expected to see a sizeable reduction in the council tax I pay to MHDC.

Instead it has risen by £8.40 over the last five years. How come?

Previously, chief executive Chris Bocock had warned that a further reduction in the government grants could lead to cuts in frontline services. Has he considered the alternative of cutting the salaries of the senior management team and taking a salary cut himself?

A 40 per cent reduction in MHDC staff implies a sizeable reduction in managerial responsibilities and a review of salaries at the top would seem overdue.

ALISTAIR MACMILLAN Malvern