The Leader of South Lakeland District Council makes an eloquent case that the council is worth every penny of the Council Tax we pay (Letters, January 14, 'Council worth every penny').

On the whole, I agree. The council gives us a good service. It is the councillors who take the mickey out of the electorate by increasing their own take from our council tax for the second year running while cutting the spend on services by £799,000 for the year (Gazette, January 7, 'Councillors take the rise').

The Leader, Councillor Thornton, takes issue with my figure for budget cuts, claiming they are making cuts of 'only' £634,000 over two years. So where did I get cuts of £799,000 for one year from?

Step forward..... Councillor Thornton! I quote from his article in South Lakeland News of Spring 2015: 'The council achieved savings (ie cuts) of £1.2m in 2014 and further savings totalling £800,000 have been identified for 2015/16'. So, in fact, I understated this year's cuts by £1,000 and the true figure for two years would appear to be £2m, a far cry from the Leader's £634,000. Clarification please, Councillor Thornton.

In 2013/14 the total 'Democratic Core' cost of our 51 councillors was £426,000, that is £4.11 from each resident of South Lakes. Of course, our Cumbria county councillors cost us even more and our MP and MEPs add greatly to our tax bill. Looking at what they personally actually achieve do we get good value?

The time has come for one unitary authority for Cumbria, to rationalise our 'Westminster' constituencies as proposed by the Parliamentary Commission and to save £30 million net per day by ditching the European experiment. Less is more; simplify and save!

Ian Kell

Mealbank