<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>EX-99.77B ACCT LTTR
<SEQUENCE>3
<FILENAME>accountantreport.txt
<TEXT>

Report of Ernst & Young LLP,  Independent Auditors To the Shareholders and Board
of Trustees of John Hancock Income  Securities  Trust In planning and performing
our audit of the  financial  statements  of the John Hancock  Income  Securities
Trust (the  "Trust") for the year ended  December 31, 2001,  we  considered  its
internal control,  including control activities for safeguarding securities,  in
order to determine our auditing  procedures  for the purpose of  expressing  our
opinion on the financial  statements and to comply with the requirements of Form
N-SAR, not to provide assurance on internal control. The management of the Trust
is responsible for establishing and maintaining  internal control. In fulfilling
this  responsibility,  estimates  and  judgments by  management  are required to
assess the expected benefits and related costs of controls.  Generally, controls
that are  relevant to an audit  pertain to the Trust's  objective  of  preparing
financial  statements  for  external  purposes  that  are  fairly  presented  in
conformity with accounting  principles  generally accepted in the United States.
Those  controls  include  the   safeguarding  of  assets  against   unauthorized
acquisition, use or disposition. Because of inherent limitations in any internal
control,  misstatements  due to errors  or fraud may occur and not be  detected.
Also,  projection  of any  evaluation of internal  control to future  periods is
subject  to the  risk  that it may  become  inadequate  because  of  changes  in
conditions,   or  that  the  effectiveness  of  the  design  and  operation  may
deteriorate.  Our  consideration  of  internal  control  would  not  necessarily
disclose all matters in internal control that might be material weaknesses under
standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
A material  weakness is a condition  in which the design or  operation of one or
more of the internal  control  components  does not reduce to a  relatively  low
level the risk that misstatements caused by error or fraud in amounts that would
be material in relation to the financial  statements being audited may occur and
not be detected  within a timely  period by  employees  in the normal  course of
performing  their assigned  functions.  However,  we noted no matters  involving
internal  control  and  its  operation,   including  controls  for  safeguarding
securities,  that we consider to be material  weaknesses  as defined above as of
December 31, 2001. This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management,  the Board of Trustees of the John Hancock Income  Securities  Trust
and the Securities and Exchange  Commission and is not intended to be and should
not be used by anyone  other than  these  specified  parties.  ERNST & YOUNG LLP
Boston, Massachusetts February 8, 2001

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</DOCUMENT>
