I’M afraid that the tail is wagging the dog where our council expenditure is concerned.

Instead of providing the services Oxford residents need and doing that economically and efficiently, our administration is prioritising reducing costs of hundreds of thousands of pounds. It will then spend £9m on a prestige white elephant project, the proposed Blackbird Leys pool, something very few Oxford residents, even those in Blackbird Leys itself, would prioritise.

In a city which has a crucial need of affordable housing, we leave city-owned housing blocks like Grantham House and Newman Court empty for years before selling them off. We are continuing to sell off council-owned houses. We own 44 housing units fewer this year than before. We are now planning a new Westgate with fewer houses but more shops. Does this not reveal a sort of “Let them eat cake” attitude?

At a time when we have had more problems with rats than before, we have privatised the pest control services.

Many of our public toilets are closed, others in the city centre closing early. One hundred council workers have been made redundant. Those that are left are expected to cover those gaps in proper service.

The Labour administration would like to blame all this on the national Coalition cuts, but the reality is that they have held back many more millions than required as contingency funds. The reserves now stand at £5.2m. By any measure this is bloated on an annual spend of £28m.

Can we not put our spare millions into building affordable and environmentally-friendly housing close to the city centre in the Westgate and the West End?

NUALA YOUNG Green City Councillor, St Clement’s