CRAIG Mather wrote in his letter to The Bolton News (March 22) to ask BMBC how much money was spent on the City Challenge debacle?

From experience, one very rarely gets a response from the BMBC to letters in this esteemed publication unless they have a point to prove and, never if BMBC is in the wrong.

There is, however, one sure fire way of getting a reply, with the figures Mr Mather requires. That is via the Freedom of Information Act. And, it works.

For instance, having listened to how compulsory redundancies at BMBC would decimate frontline services, invoking the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) showed the actuality.

Of approximately 12,000 BMBC staff only 42 (0.0035 per cent) were made compulsorily redundant in 2010 and 34 (0.0028 per cent) in 2011.

So much for the swingeing labour cost cuts.

As heartbreaking as it is for each individual who was made redundant,these figures are minuscule by comparison to the 25-40 per cent redundancies we see in private enterprise. In fact, they are statistically insignificant and diametrically opposed to the horror stories and scare tactics put about by the Labour Old Red Guard at BMBC.

Mr Mather should send an email to the following address: freedomofinfo@bolton.gov.uk or write to the BMBC Information Officer at the Town Hall. Using any search engine will give a format for a FOIA letter.

He’ll get an answer then and hopefully The Bolton News will print the answer Mr Mather receives.

Ainslie Casson Qatar