It is astounding that your unnamed correspondent (Have Your Say, June 22) writes: “Shouldn’t Poole council be ashamed that its children’s social care was underspent by £500,000 in the year?”

These savings were achieved, as in other service areas, by improved efficiencies and targeted savings, and are part of the council’s strategy for dealing with the very difficult times ahead.

We will be looking for even more such savings in the future, and everyone should realise that just because money has been placed in a budget does not mean it has to be spent. Money allocated in a budget is the maximum available for expenditure – not the minimum.

The writer states that “Poole is one of the wealthiest boroughs in the country”.

This is not so. Nurses, teachers and members of other trades and professions are not paid one penny more than they would be in any other part of the country, so why does he think they are able to afford to pay more for the provision of local services?

Cllr Dr B R Leverett, leader, Poole council