It seems there is no shortage of money at City of York Council when it comes to paying off and so gagging staff leaving the authority (£1m for city council’s 68 ‘gag clauses’, July 24). This comes on top of the ongoing staff sickness saga, which the council dismally failed to correct by engaging expensive outside firms.

How can such things happen so frequently with this council of ours? It is a shocking disgrace that financial priorities allow such huge sums of taxpayers money to be always available and used in this way instead of being used to help the less well off in our society, such as single mums and others who are struggling terribly and are no doubt being refused help by council officials who want to reduce expenditure.

Peter Boulton,

Orchard Gardens,

Huntington, York