FIRSTLY I would like to thank Councillor Derek Prodger for his response (Readers’ Times, August 23) to my earlier letter concerning the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority (HWFRA).

Unfortunately his comments were, by and large, generalisations, often unrelated to the questions posed, and as a result do not in any substantive way answer the issues to a point where the public could say that we get value for money from the authority.

Allow me then to put the questions again.

1.Why are so many people required to oversee the work of HWFRA? I ask this question because the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, overseeing the largest fire and rescue service in the country, manages with only 17 members, so just why do we need 25 in the HWFRA?

2.What skills do members have that suit them for the tasks of determining the budget, plans, policies, strategies and running of the fire and rescue service? I ask this question again because Coun Prodger chose to sidestep the question by stating that members are “well qualified in representing the views of the public”, and that he feels that he “represents the local community effectively”. A relevant answer would have been preferable.

3.Why did two members of the authority claim in excess of £8,000 expenses in the last financial year? I ask this question again because Coun Prodger was one of those two people, and he chose not to mention this in his comments.

Perhaps he and that second claimant would care to publish their expenses in detail.

My aim in raising these issues is not to criticise the fire and rescue service or to attack individuals, but to question why the authority is administered in this seemingly bureaucratic way, which last year cost the taxpayer £53,000, money that I personally would rather spend on the fire and rescue service itself.

Why cannot the fire and rescue service report to a single person representing the two councils?

The chief fire officer should be responsible for preparing, justifying and managing his or her budget to the satisfaction of the councils and their auditors, whilst ensuring that national laws, guidelines and standards are maintained in day to day operations.

Why cannot local councillors deal with day to day issues relating to the fire and rescue service, without having a 25- person authority acting as an intermediary?

Herefordshire Council has paved the way for more accountable and effective public administration by appointing a chief executive who is administering several previously diverse operations, which we are told is now yielding financial benefits.

Why then can’t we consign the fire and rescue authority to the history books?

GRAHAM CARPENTER, Oldfields Close, Leominster .