I ENTIRELY endorse your editorial (EA, November 18), that it is time for an immediate rethink on the proposal by Swindon Services to transfer their costs of providing hot meals to the school.

This is merely switching one part of the council's budget to another and could leave some schools with the invidious choice of either stopping the provision of meals or sacking a teacher.

This is a most insensitive idea. For some children, especially those from poor families, this is the only hot meal they get each day and, rightly, they get it free.

The root of the problem is the amount of money which the government provides for council services. This year it is 67 per cent of our budget; in 1997 it was 72 per cent. This is really one of Gordon Brown's stealth taxes. No wonder our contribution to public services (ie the council tax) keeps rising by about 15 per cent each year. It's not just Swindon, local authorities right across the country are faced with the same problems. And the Local Government Minister, Nick Raynsford has the infernal cheek to threaten councils with capping if they increase their budgets by more than 10 per cent.

We can't have our cake and eat it. Either we pay for our public services (which are generally good value for money, in spite of what E Fell and Frank Avenell write) or we lose them. Personally, although a senior citizen, I would be happy to pay an increase on my council tax, in order that deprived children could continue to receive a daily hot meal.

G THEODORE HEATH

Shaw

Swindon