TERRY Smith is to be commended for pursuing, in the face of obduracy, the matter of Mr Finnegan's disengagement from council employment (November 17).

The legality of a public body entering into a non-disclosure agreement with an employee whilst excluding another interested party, ie the taxpayer, should be questioned.

The residents of this city are entitled to know the extent, and in what circumstances, their financial contributions are being used.

City of York Council should not enter into agreements which may leave it open to legal action, nor should the fact that another two council employees and the Audit Commission have been made aware of the details be thought as justification to continue to withhold information.

The terms of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 may well provide exemption in matters of employment, but does it cover circumstances of disengagement from employment, particularly where the reluctance to be open on this matter is causing concern?

Derek Chapplow,

Middlethorpe Grove,

York.

Updated: 09:49 Saturday, November 19, 2005