I AM delighted to read that Cllr Ian Barker, the leader of Lancaster City council, believes in accountability (Citizen Letters last week).

But the council, through Mr Barker, uses the usual establishment tactic of playing the man instead of the ball.

The response is not accountable but is inaccurate and evasive - but as he believes in accountability I am sure he will be able to address the following questions.

1 City Contract Services: Can Cllr Barker provide the profit/loss amounts of CCS for the last five financial years and to date for 2004/05?

CCS carries out grounds maintenance, engineering, vehicle maintenance, refuse collection and cleansing and building direct works which does repairs and maintenance to council housing stock. Can he provide profit and loss amounts for each service?

2 The Millennium Bridge: The concept and approval for proceeding with the bridge was done under a Labour administration led by Cllr Stanley Henig.

I wish to know what does the extra work amounting to £50K consist of and is any of it a result of inadequately specified work or design, or poor workmanship which should have been identified by the project management team?

3 Top Officer Salaries: What were the actual percentage increases in salaries in the last three council years and what is set for the current year for the chief executive, directors of central services, regeneration and community services and the 18 heads below them?

4: New staff accommodation: I was not referring to the move of council house services to a refurbished office but to the requirement for modern accommodation for Town Hall staff. Incidentally, how much did that move cost and what is the budget for the council's future modernisation plans?

The council refers to letters which raise issues of public accountability as 'dyspeptic' - ie sick and sullen. I can think of nothing more dyspeptic than an authority which fails to deliver, cuts its services and yet imposes inflation-busting tax increases.

The easy target is not staff but ratepayers because, as Cllr Barker stated earlier in the year, 'we must protect our staff' without any reference to customers.

Mr S Williams, Torrisholme.