Sir,
In response to Mr Walter May's criticism of my decision to set up an Independent Panel to review every claim I have made on the public purse may I say this.
The panel is made up of four people from the public and private sector. There were a number of applications, some from people who were well qualified to undertake the task, but others not.
At least one was rejected because the individual provided no information about himself and, after speaking to him it was clear that he was more interested in passing unfounded criticisms of various Councillors, the Assembly Member and myself than in undertaking a responsible auditing role.
The information which is being looked at by the panel contains a great deal of personal information including bank account details and the addresses of employees but as soon as the confidential details have been removed it will all be available online for everyone to see, including Mr May.
In the meantime the panel will be at liberty to examine everything and journalists from the local newspapers are welcome to see the same information.
I wish Mr May every success in finding an alternative role to match his abilities.
David Davies
(MP for Monmouth)