It is regrettable that, in his letter last week, Councillor W R Crocker should seek to mislead readers. With the full agreement of all members of Caradon's Cabinet, I should like to point out the following:
* Caradon is increasing its share of the Council tax by 8%. This is 16p a week for the average household. 6% will be used to maintain present service levels and 2% for some improvements. Options for use of the 2% are garden waste composting, street sweeping, social exclusion, Objective 1 delivery and help for rural post offices.
* The increase is not related to any compensation claim
* The Council discussed whether to pay allowances for attending meetings or, as the Government wants, a basic rate for being a Councillor. Increasing the total allowances budget in real terms was not considered, so to talk of 400% increases is a distortion.
* It is unfortunate that Councillor Crocker, who was elected only last year, has not picked up that the Council reduced its number of Directors from 4 to 2 a short time ago. Further cuts from that level currently would be harmful to overall service.
* An external review team praised Caradon recently as open, honest and willing to learn. Anyone who wants to take an interest in their Council's work is welcome at our meetings.
Cllr Eric Lewis BEM
Leader of the Council