REGARDING your article, "Higher expenses for councillors will cost £91,000 more" (LET, June 6), the facts are as follows:

1 The Independent Remuneration Panel was asked to re-allocate the existing budget in relation to the new political arrangements;

2 The scheme proposed by the Independent Panel is within that existing budget and will cost £391,364 compared to £395,268;

3 Your statement that "following the shake-up in the political system at the Town Hall, the new system will cost an extra £91,000" is, therefore, simply untrue. The new system actually costs slightly less than the old one.

IAN WOOLLEY, Chairman, Independent Remuneration Panel, and Philip S Watson, Chief Executive, Blackburn with Darwen Council.

Footnote: Our story pointed out quite clearly that the £91,000 increase in expenses has taken place over two years -- since the council became unitary. We also quoted Mr Woolley as saying that guidelines for the new scheme were that it should be "broadly within existing budgets." However, although we asked the council about last year's figures we were not given the budget figure of £391,364 -- Editor.