From Mr S. Curtis, MRPharmS
SIR,—In the August Council meeting (PJ, August 14, p232) there was a debate as to the amount of openness required by the Council members in terms of their expenses. On the one hand, in this new era of glasnost, the Council seemed to want to show itself as being honest and true, and then, on the other hand, it seemed to think the membership are complete fools who cannot understand that a flight in an aeroplane and a night in a hotel will cost more than a walk from a local house.
I was surprised to see that Mr Nathan opposed the giving of such information, saying he could not see the value of publishing individual Council members' expenses. I say this in light of his desire for more information on the workings of the officers' meetings and of his public cries for openness in general.
Dr Evans said that a past Treasurer had told him that individual Council members' expenses correlated closely with their travelling distance from London. I wish my Inland Revenue inspector was so easy to please! We should see the facts.
The fact remains that Council members expenses may, for all we know, run into millions of pounds, and no one, as far as I know, apart from our trusty Treasurer, would be aware of the truth.
Since it is my fees which go towards paying those expenses, I have a right to ask for information regarding the way the money is spent. And Council members should have an obligation to disseminate that information.
The membership is an intelligent group of professional people who can do simple arithmetic and can map read. The paperwork should be sent for review to an outside body, and if there has been anything untoward taking place, then surely there should be a thorough investigation and attempts made to recover money lost.
Steven Curtis
Stanmore, Middlesex