THE old adage that 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing' could be attributed to some members of the Tavistock Chamber of Commerce following the article 'Council trading company under the spotlight' published in the Times on November 13. Some of the so-called 'facts' about the issue given by treasurer Mike Harper were completely inaccurate. Yes, the council is looking at setting up a trading company but not, as Mr Harper suggests, by using council tax and officer time to run it. He should know better, as a former West Devon Borough councillor himself, that there are strict financial and auditing rules in place to prevent such activity. Other members expressed concern that the council had carried out surveys among businesses and the information would be 'invaluable' to setting up such a company to offer our services. What I find baffling is that two members of the Chamber quoted in the article have been informed exactly how the business survey information is to be used at various meetings we have recently presented too. The chairman of the chamber, Neal Taynton-Young, recently attended a Business Voice meeting with the Council where the subject of both the business survey and the trading company was discussed at length. Mr Harper didn't attend that meeting. However, Mr Harper did chair a meeting in early October, where our economy manager gave a presentation on the survey and gave detailed information as to how the results were going to be used. I note that this information was obviously not shared at the recent chamber meeting. Let me make it clear. The results of the survey that has recently been carried out will be made available to all businesses to help them inform their own business planning. Firms were even able to complete the survey anonymously if they wanted to. This information is not being held just by the council. Indeed, the main purpose of these surveys is to collect data, identify issues, and help try and meet those business needs through funding initiatives. The results of our 2012 businesses survey are readily available on our website at http://www.westdevon.gov.uk/article/2648/Business-Surveys">www.westdevon.gov.uk/article/2648/Business-Surveys The government has systematically cut local authority funding over the last four years and our government grant has been reduced from £2.2 million (2013/14) to a predicted £400,000 (2018/19). That's a reduction of £1.8 million on a net budget of £7.9 million — in total, a 23% funding cut. The government is clear that it wishes to withdraw all grant funding to local authorities, thus forcing them to establish other funding streams as well as making efficiency savings. West Devon has risen to this challenge and by prudent management we will continue to deliver our front line services. Cllr Philip Sanders Leader, West Devon Borough Council