I feel compelled to write in response to Councillor Jean Spray's representation of the facts surrounding the Palmeira Project (The Argus, March 8).

If Coun Spray really believes Brighton and Hove City Council could have run the service better than the NCH, she clearly has failed to understand the needs of the children involved.

The project was set up to meet the needs of the children and the NCH was handicapped from the start by flawed information supplied by Brighton and Hove social services department.

The consequence of this was grossly inadequate funding.

Funding should have been based on the individual needs of each child and anyone with an ounce of sense would have carried out accurate and extensive assessments beforehand.

Had this been carried out, Coun Spray would know they could not have provided the care more cheaply.

Just to remind readers, it was the failure of the council-run social services to meet the agreed level of funding and pay the bills on time that caused the crisis.

They behaved similarly with Barnardo's and the NCH, who ran Marina House in Rottingdean, a site given to the council for underprivileged children which has now been sold to build flats.

The council should be running projects of its own but, to my knowledge, it has failed to open a single establishment.

It closes a few, mind you, such as the refuge for women. Palmeira was only opened because of the help from the NCH and no facilities will exist if left to the council's own devices.

How Coun Spray and Mr Bowman (former head of social services) have kept their positions is a mystery to me.

-Simon Herbert, Rottingdean