I WOULD appreciate the opportunity to respond to the letter you printed on October 12 suggesting that if councillors’ earnings were a little over £9,000 no-one would do the job.

I can confirm that half of the 42 Poole councillors receive only the basic allowance of £9,374 and do not receive any other allowance.

Total expenses claimed for last year for all councillors was £6,950, which is an average of £165 per councillor.

This might help explain why the average age of councillors is showing a steady increase. Many councillors are pensioners with grown-up families and it does seem extremely difficult to attract the younger generation.

CLLR MIKE WHITE, Deputy Leader, Borough of Poole