Underperform on pay 3

The belief that the £330 million of funding council money for recruiting and retaining staff ("Pay boost will come at a price", THES, January 24) has been "earmarked for staff pay" is wide of the mark - unless this includes posts in human-resources departments and the pay of external consultants.

As a matter of academic interest, can anyone beat a score of 21 for HR? No, not a Quality Assurance Agency score but the size of an HR team. The more depressing aspects of Charles Clarke's white paper are the eight references to HR function, which are likely to be used to justify more bloat.

Dick Leigh
Natfhe, University of Westminster