City councillor Rick Muir says that level of staffing in the city council has remained static though, later in his letter, he admits there has been an overall increase (Oxford Mail, March 9).

He fails to mention the number of private consultants engaged to carry out surveys, whose lengthy reports soon find their way into dusty drawers or shelves, never to see the light of day again.

If he is interested, I can name a few dealing with the area I live in.

However, the main point of my letter (Oxford Mail, March 3) was to question why the council required more staff to manage less council stock? Over the last decade, many departments have closed. This should have resulted in a significant reduction in staff.

The expansion of Building Solutions cannot be held alone to account for the increase. VIM RODRIGO, Rivermead Road, Rose Hill, Oxford