YOUR article on the Cultural Services Review claims that the decision by cabinet was 'called in' by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

In fact, the signatories to the call-in also included the Green Party arts representative, Cllr Tony Pinkney.

I agree with many of Cllr Blamire's concerns about the new structure (merging leisure, arts, tourism and museums into 'visitor' and 'resident' services).

However, simple arithmetic shows that if Labour had taken up their cabinet seats (which still are open to them) they could have defeated it without the need for further discussion and debate.

The proposal passed by cabinet won with a majority of four to two - with the Greens and Liberal Democrats voting against.

My maths is a little rusty, but I am fairly sure that two plus three is more than four.

The Green Group's cabinet representative, Gina Dowding, proposed an alternative structure that provided head of department posts for the three service heads who are not taking early retirement. Not only did the Green proposal protect the jobs of these long-serving officers in the city council but, because it avoided the need for a new cultural services head, it also turned out to be cheaper than the proposed structure passed by cabinet. The future of cultural services will now be discussed by the regeneration review board before being sent back to the cabinet - possibly with suggestions for an alternative structure. Of course, there may be problems with this, but we feel that it, or something similar, can provide the basis for a solution that the majority of staff and councillors are happy with.

Cllr Jon Barry

Willow Lane