At long last a serving councillor, Ann Ducker of South Oxfordshire District Council, has raised their head above the parapet and showed an element of constructive thought and courage by suggesting there is an excess of unnecessarily appointed councillors.

There are a total of 119 councillors appointed to represent both Oxford City and Oxfordshire County Council at a combined cost totalling £1.2m in allowances.

Cllr Ducker’s suggestion to cull 40 per cent of them would reduce their number to 71 and slash the cost of allowances provided by council taxpayers.

I question what is required of councillors to qualify for the payment of the allowances when it is not possible to establish how they fill their time or establish the reasons why some appear non-existent so often.

Therefore to justify their allowances they should complete a monthly work sheet which would be published on council websites.

It would give the public an opportunity to gain an understanding of the time councillors spend attending to council business and constituents’ demands.

There is little doubt of the need to save money in these times of deficits and cutbacks.

John Bullivant, Leiden Road, Headington, Oxford