I would like to respond to the points made by B W Breakspear (Letters).

Firstly, the potential rise in council tax will not be as high as 13.1 per cent since our persistent lobbying of Government has finally produced an additional £1.2m which is the equivalent of just over two per cent in council tax.

This means the latest projection based on the officers' wish list is 10.9 per cent.

My colleagues and I have knocked on enough doors recently to know that a low increase in council tax is what the people of Swindon are expecting us to deliver and this Conservative administra-tion has been and is continu-ing to work to keep next year's increase as low as possible.

We are listening to the people of Swindon and we will do our best to meet their aspirations.

With regard to consultation on next year's budget, we have a statutory obligation to consult on our council tax proposals which has been imposed by this Labour Government; yet another of the many examples of the Government insisting we carry out a function without the funds to pay for it.

No council could commit itself to the result of the consultation since, collectively, all councillors have a statutory obligation to agree a budget which can be achieved in the forthcoming year. The Conservative group, as the largest party, took control of the Administration in May and is working hard to bring about change and drive down the amount we have to ask Council taxpayers for.

However, turning the council around is a bit like pointing an oil tanker in a different direction; we have started to turn the wheel but many of the results will take a while to materialise.

Mr Breakspear appears unwilling to accept that the Government underfunds Swindon.

In the case of education, for example, the latest figures show that Swindon is 127th out of 150 authorities in terms of the amount given by the Government for each pupil in our schools.

This is a modest upward movement on our position compared with last year and, along with the additional money put in by council taxpayers, we are seeing an improvement in standards.

Additional money, in conjunction with other strategies, clearly produce an improvement in standards and that money, by and large, can only come from one of two sources. At the same time, we continue to seek best value in all areas.

As a member of the Conservative Party, I believe in low taxes but we must also deliver high standards in education and social services, in particular, which are clearly seen by the people of Swindon as the most important services the council provides.

Councillor David Renard

Haydon Wick