COUN Merrett's selective re-telling of history is amusing (Letters, September 30). One day he criticises the Liberal Democrat administration for "profligate" expenditure and then claims in his letter that those ideas were initiated by his Labour group.

Before Labour lost overall control of the council in June 2000, there had been a steady decline in street-level service standards. On taking power in May we found a cardboard edifice of promises which were not underpinned by workable implementation plans.

In the last four months we have concentrated on making improvements as part of our York Pride/Safe City initiative, funded by economies in the administration and public relations.

The York Pride campaign has improved gully-cleansing services, one of our household waste sites is open longer, most of the city has a kerbside recycling collection, and we have a street environment team out in their Smart cars troubleshooting problems which can be reported to a single telephone number, 551551. The Safe City campaign is also producing results.

Steve Galloway,

Liberal Democrat council leader,

Stirrup Close,

Foxwood, York.

Updated: 11:10 Wednesday, October 15, 2003