I refer to Mr Nally’s letter (September 3) and thought it would be helpful to answer the points he made regarding councillors' travelling expenses.

We operate a scheme of allowances which is published in the council’s constitution which is publicly available on our web-site.

This scheme was proposed by a panel of people who are totally independent from the council and include a former headteacher, a senior manager from a large private sector company and people who have been involved at a very senior level in other North West public organisations.

Councillors have no influence over this panel.

The expenses scheme is strictly enforced and all expense claims are examined, monitored and published independently by council officers and are subject to regular audit.

It is important to remember that expenses are just that — they are intended to meet costs incurred and no more.

They are not a perk and they are paid so that, in the interests of democracy, no-one is deterred from being a councillor due to their personal and/or financial circumstances. Whether individual councillors claim travel expenses is a matter for them.

Mike Owen director of finance and E-government Bury Council