Letter: Number cruncher (1)

Colleagues may have greeted the news that the Arts and Humanities Research Board had spent £89.99 million on museums and galleries in 1999-2000 with disbelieving delight ("For the record", THES , September 28).

These are, sadly, riches beyond our imagining, and as your correction made clear (For the record, THES , October 5) the figure is incorrect in the Higher Education Funding Council for England's annual report.

Colleagues may have greeted the news that the correct figure was £8.99 with some dismay. The correct figure is £8.99 million. We at the AHRB find that if you look after the decimal points, the pounds look after themselves.

David Eastwood
Chief executive, Arts and Humanities Research Board