COUN Dave Smith (Letters, March 8) spoke of the rate of council tax being an unknown quantity.

But, as sure as night follows day, it is going up in Blackburn. Whenever has it been known to come down under this Labour council?

He makes another outlandish claim - that there are many councillors with business experience and that the council's Economic Development Department is "highly regarded for its business expertise."

Why then have they not applied this acumen to the solution of the critical housing scandal in Blackburn?

Why have these whiz kids allowed £2 million-plus - equal to 10 per cent of the town's council tax - to accrue in rent arrears?

Only recently, the Audit Commission revealed that Blackburn spends more per person than any other borough in Lancashire.

On what? There is plenty of evidence that council services fall year on year and many fall short at the point of delivery.

If the council has all this business expertise, why, in 1996, did it have the highest council tax outside the metropolitan authorities?

Had the Government not imposed capping on this crew of incompetent socialist spendthrifts, then only lottery winners would have been able to pay the absurd council tax charges they would have imposed.

WALT MEADOWS, Whalley New Road, Blackburn.

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