SIR – Philip Davies’ kneejerk reaction to council proposals for Bingley and Shipley town centre management demonstrates that he has not bothered to look at the facts before firing off his opinions.

His claim that the reductions are proposed in order to protect the city centre conveniently fails to recognise the fact that the budget proposals would also make a significant reduction in city centre investment.

The resources to support city centre events will fall by over £300,000 and the council will withdraw from city centre management in three years’ time.

This is in addition to previously published proposals to scale back on city centre economic development work.

By next year the council will have had to save £170m since 2011. The reality is that the scale of the cuts handed down by the coalition government means that all parts of the district will be affected and no one place or community can remain immune.

Mr Davies is right to be angry at how the district is being treated. But that anger would be better directed at his government, which has demanded that local government in general and Bradford district in particular should shoulder a wholly disproportionate and unfair burden of its cuts.

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Portfolio Holder for Employment, Skills and Culture, Bradford Council