I AM not a Bournemouth council taxpayer but feel I must comment on the article about the council and its outsourcing arrangements with Mouchel, printed in Thursday’s Echo (January 29).

If the figures shown for the reduction in savings for the council are correct, they are quite unbelievable.

Instead of saving the local taxpayers a promised total of over £118 million for the four financial years from 2013/14 to 2016/17, the savings have been ‘revised down’ to just £74.66 million.

That’s a reduction of 37 per cent, which is huge and must be an embarrassment to Bournemouth council.

Is there an explanation as to why the figures appear to be so badly wrong?

And could this be related to three Section 151 officers all leaving the council after criticising the council’s deal with Mouchel?

The money that councils spend is not theirs – it is ours – and we are entitled to know what they are spending it on.

MAGGIE PUTTICK,

Montagu Road, Highcliffe