MR L Lawes (Letters, January 24) claimed that Blackburn with Darwen councillors have admitted they have no useful function. As one of those he considers to be sitting around in party meeting rooms, I wonder how many councillors he has spoken to in order to make such a sweeping statement.

Much more is now expected of councillors -- school governorships, scrutiny groups, seminars and courses (in the Town Hall, not jollies), briefings and digesting the plethora of information and legislation emanating from the Town Hall. At the last review the time councillors spent on such things was, on average, three hours per day, which I reckon is a conservative estimate.

Many times, councillors are out at meetings, council and community groups, from 6pm onwards then on arriving home have to sit down to catch up on casework and e-mail correspondence.

Most, if not all, councillors hold a ward surgery every month: some issue newsletters (not paid for by the council). My fellow ward councillor and I deliver 3,000 at least three times a year.

Despite all this, we are usually the last port of call when a problem arises and are then expected to succeed where others have failed.

All of the above and more come with the territory, so you seldom hear a councillor complain. More likely, it would be the neglected members of their family. I haven't met one councillor who would do the job just for the money. I also think all councillors have the interest of the borough at heart. However, any councillors who think they have no useful function cannot be doing the job properly and should seriously consider their future.

So how effective are we, the unworthy ones? Aside from the day-to-day casework, where mostly we can be successful given patience and perseverance, there are the scrutiny groups. These are all-party and open to the public. They are the main tool for monitoring the policies, efficiency and performance of council departments and decisions of the Executive.

They operate on the same lines as parliamentary select committees, the difference being that local officers and Executive members can be called to give evidence and subjected to questioning. There is no doubt that many councillors feel that the current system has taken away a great deal of decision making from the council chamber and put it into the hands of just eight councillors. It is a poor system designed to make local government more subservient to Whitehall, whichever government is in power.

Liberal Democrats would do away with it; it is a moot question whether the Conservatives would do the same.

All that said, councillors have to work within this system and carry out their responsibilities to those they represent and there are still many useful functions for them to carry out, not least ensuring that the Executive does not exceed its powers.

COUN KEVIN CONNOR (Marsh House Ward), Elswick Street, Darwen.