COUNCILLOR Dave Smith (Letters, June 21) attempts to blur the argument about the level of council tax in Blackburn with Darwen.

Band D acts as the base line -- as a consequence of this being high, the lower bands pay more.

Then, he trawls the country finding councils with higher Band D taxes -- and puts his foot in it. The point of my earlier remarks was that Blackburn had high taxes and that Labour was responsible.

As most of the councils he cites are Labour, that substantiates my claim that Labour are top of the tax league. Councillor Smith calls for suggestions for the reduction of the dreaded council tax.

Well, the council has been toying with the idea that the finance department may go private and they already want to rid themselves of the council houses. Why not go the whole hog and put all departments out to tender? Short term contracts should be the norn, thus greater efficiency and cheaper costs will emerge.

Why should the council be bartenders, caterers, dance band promoters, theatrical impresarios, builders, plumbers, electricians, joiners and many other jobs that could reasonably be placed out to tender?

The people involved would not be out of work but just have different employers.

Or what about management buyouts? It is not the council's remit to protect employees' jobs at the expense of the council taxpayer.

Slash the local education authority -- no consultants. Close down advice centres etc to stop duplication with the likes of the Citizen's Advice Bureau.

Much could be done in the education and social services fields to save money and improve standards. Reduce the number of councillors -- that's just to start with.

WALT MEADOWS, Whalley New Road, Blackburn.