Sir – My simple arithmetic leads to a suggestion that may offend some high earners within Oxfordshire County Council.

If the chief executive, whose reported salary is £189,158, and roughly nine times of those who earn £21,000, was to forfeit £100,000 of her salary she would have a meagre £1,714.57 a week to live on. A task many of us would enjoy and she would still be paid four times more than the average worker. The £100,000 could be shared by giving a £250 rise in pay to 400 lower paid workers. Multiply these figures to include all the high earners in the council and many of the proposed ‘cuts’ may not be necessary.

T. G. Pearson, Leafield