The Nottingham Post has a great scoop about Labour-led Nottingham City Council’s abuse of taxpayer funds.
The story can be distilled into one sentence:
‘City council leader Jon Collins has used a consultant paid £870-a-day by the taxpayer for advice on Labour’s campaign in the run-up to the May election.’
Nottingham is one of England’s most profligate and rapacious councils. Examples of its needless largesse include stripping conkers from trees and spending £185,000 on signs to improve local morale. One probable reason for the residents’ black mood is the steep rate of council tax. In 2010-11, occupants of band A properties paid £1041.39; whilst those in Wandsworth attracted a maximum of £470.44. The council has also recently increased its car parking charges at three times the rate of inflation, for which it has been castigated by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce and local small businesses. That’s not all. There’s a coup de grace. In September of last year, with ‘swingeing cuts’ looming, the council spent £200,000 on a senior staff leadership course; although in view of the above this almost qualifies as a necessary expense.
But, above all, the Nottingham Post has highlighted a transparency issue. As I revealed a few days ago, some councils are hiring consultants in backroom or arms-length roles and then shielding them from scrutiny and accountability. The consultant in this case, Harold Tinworth, was hired to help Nottingham’s senior management implement spending cuts. It has since emerged that he has been involved in political strategising, which is scarcely surprising as the council’s response to the spending settlement has been open politicking. For example, the BBC has revealed how it chose to treble the price of care for the elderly at home, despite the fact that Osborne’s Budget pledged an extra £2bn for social care.
The suspicion is that there is a culture of opportunism at Nottingham City Council, masked by obfuscation. An investigation is currently underway to determine if Labour misappropriated ratepayers’ money during its 2007 local election campaign. Also, the council is yet to publish details of its expenses over £500. Council leader Jon Collins excused the oversight by saying that he and his colleagues ‘have much better things to be doing’. So it seems. The question now is whether there are more councils like it.
Hat-tip: Guido.
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