A LOT has been written and said about the poor financial situation and performance of Swindon Council.

The only answer from the politicians and council officers seems to be a swinging increase in council tax. Let's sting the poor old council taxpayer again and throw some money at the problem.

Central government has let Swindon people down.

Two glaring examples are the millions of pounds snatched back by the treasury from the non- domestic rate paid by Swindon businesses and the appaling under funding of education in a rapidly expanding young population.

Ah, some may say, the Conservatives have taken over in Swindon.

Will that make any real difference? Many believe the Conservative administration has an equally disastrous potential, after all their party caused many of the problems we currently face.

Much has been said about the increasing council tax, little attention is given to the need to scrutinise the borough's expenditure.

We are told where large lumps of cash are spent. Whether it is spent wisely, efficiently and effectively is wholly another question.

I'm sure the council would argue that the audit office is there to monitor expenditure and point out if the council exceeds its powers very laudable if this system really worked. But "Best Value" is certainly not being achieved.

The fact remains that there is little real accountability elected councillors and officers seem unable to exercise financial management or normal business procedures. Purely as an example the appointment of W S Atkins contract would seem to confirm this. If we cannot take party politics out of local government perhaps the time has come for a complete independent group of taxpayers to regularly review the performance of our council.

Elected councillors of all political parties have failed the people of Swindon over many years.

There are a notable few who have tried to act in the interests of the community, but far too many don't have the guts to stand up to the largely misguided bosses of the political parties.

Are there any Swindonians out there who feel the same as me and agree that someone needs to establish whether we get value for money from our council tax and a fair share of national income?

We could at least give it a try.

C G SCOTT

Sunningdale Road

Swindon