Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

The item 'audit into Kennet honoraria' stayed secret yesterday.

Further to my web post on Sunday, you still can't be told the facts behind the Kennet District Council non-pensionable honoraria matter.

On Tuesday I e-mailed the members of the Wiltshire Council audit committee setting out why I felt that the matter should be discussed in public. I am grateful to the Lib Dem members of the committee who shared my view and voted for a public debate. However, they were out voted by the in-built Conservative majority on the committee and the press and public were excluded before the discussion started.

Unless the committee changes its mind you will therefore have to speculate as to what took place at Kennet DC, the number of people involved, the sum of money involved, etc.

I thought that one of the priorities of the WC corporate plan was 'local, open and honest decision making'; pity that the 'open' part seems not to apply in this instance.