IT IS very kind of Councillor Peter Bryant – who is currently North Somerset Council s executive member for special projects on �22,000 a year – to ask what I did in the past about senior officers pay and pensions. If he would care to look at the record

IT IS very kind of Councillor Peter Bryant - who is currently North Somerset Council's executive member for 'special projects' on �22,000 a year - to ask what I did in the past about senior officers pay and pensions.

If he would care to look at the records, he will find that as a councillor I supported reform of the local government pension scheme to make it more affordable for taxpayers. I also called for a performance related pay scheme for senior officers including pay cuts for those who fell short.

I am perfectly happy to debate my record any day of the week. But that is the past. I live in the present. I don't run North Somerset Council - Cllr Bryant does.

So perhaps he could make one of the 'special projects' for which he is paid a review of senior staff pay including putting a brake on the number of staff earning more than �100,000 - which has doubled on his watch according to the independent Taxpayers Alliance.

If Cllr Bryant is afraid of taking tough action in the taxpayer's interest, then he and his colleagues can always step aside and make way for people who will.

MIKE BELL

Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Weston-super-Mare

George Street, Weston