THE Grand Old Duke of York had 10,000 men, whereas the new Chief Executive of City of York Council will have only 7,000.

We know what the Duke of York did with his men. However a recent council job advert for a political assistant makes me wonder what the 7,000-strong army of council workers does.

How many of those are involved in delivering front line services and how many are involved just with presentation? With executive councillors and £100,000-a-year chief executives, managing this army of council workers is proving an expensive business.

How fortunate then for council tax payers that the first year's instalment on a new chief executive has been covered by a local developer. Though whether residents of Heworth are quite as grateful about Best Value in action I cannot say.

Richard Lamb,

Greystoke Road,

Rawcliffe, York.