IN an editorial entitled ‘Mayor denies that clerk is earning £50k’ refers to Mrs Smailes of Lydney Town Council as ‘our chief executive officer’.

This is contrary to Cinderford, Coleford and Newent councils who employ town clerks. So what is the difference?

Perhaps it may be down to terms of experience? However, I discovered that Mrs. Lynda Thomas, Cinderford Town Clerk, has been in the post for 24 years, whereas Mrs. Smailes has only been a parish/town/locum clerk for four years and CEO of Lydney Town Council for five years (total nine years). Hence a vast difference in terms of experience, so I removed this from the equation.

I then turned to the question of qualifications.

The three other Forest town clerks have no indicative letters after their names, despite them obviously having to be fully qualified to carry out their respective duties, whereas Mrs. Smailes has the letters WWYC, CilCA, FdA, SllRSM (FILCM) after hers.

This does not appear to include a qualification for a Masters in Entrepreneurial Leadership established at a cost of £7,000 plus some £3,000 expenses funded by the taxpayers of Lydney.

So I have concluded that the difference must be qualifications and as

such I congratulate Mrs Smailes on her achievements and her improving and developing CV.

However, such qualifications are usually achieved at a cost to the taxpayer.

As such, and with respect, in the times of austerity, does a small town council as Lydney warrant such a highly qualified, highly salaried CEO?

The other three Forest councils, I am sure, operate extremely efficiently with what appears sufficiently less qualified town clerks and without Local Council Award Scheme Quality Gold Status.

Indeed,  I sincerely hope that they do not feel in any way inferior or undermined in their administration by the contents of this letter, as this was not the intention whatsoever.

– Gordon Blake, Lydney.