Jason Kitcat, the leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, says he urges people to come forward with improvements to the pay offer currently on the table (The Argus, May 31).

However, nobody (other than the officers he has tasked with negotiating a settlement) has access to the necessary information to come up with a better solution.

Brighton is full of people with imagination, creativity and goodwill, who could be asked to help solve this thorny problem. The workers directly affected could no doubt come up with some good ways to tackle it.

But everyone who wants to help find a solution is held back by the secrecy surrounding the basic facts and figures. Even the Green MP Caroline Lucas can’t get to the bottom of why the officers are insisting on a solution which involves cutting the take-home pay of some of the lowest-paid workers at the council.

I urge Mr Kitcat to publish the information we need to come up with a better solution. How many workers are employed at each pay grade and how much of their pay is made up of allowances? How are the officers calculating the cost of equalising pay at a higher level, rather than levelling downwards by reducing allowances? How many directly employed officers are on salaries higher than £50,000?

Share the information, and I’m sure some constructive solutions will be put forward. Nobody wants to see a strike by Cityclean and Cityparks staff, least of all the workers themselves. Give the people of Brighton and Hove the opportunity to help settle the dispute.

Dani Ahrens, Southampton Street, Brighton