Alan Whitehead

Labour Party | Southampton Test

WHITEHEAD SLAMS £100,000 COUNCIL SPEND ON POLITICAL LETTERS

Southampton City Council’s Cabinet authorised thousands of pounds of potentially illegal spending to advertise local Conservative party policy, it has been revealed.

£100,000 of Council tax payer’s money has gone to fund public relations, letters and bureaucracy related to the Conservatives’ proposed 10% Council Tax discount for some pensioners.

However it was revealed at last night’s Finance and Resources Scrutiny meeting that this spending does not relate to established Council policy and may be illegal.

The Conservative Cabinet agreed to spend the £100,000 preparing for the scheme at a Cabinet meeting on October 29th.  But because the 10% discount has yet to be approved by a meeting of all 48 elected councillors, the Cabinet may not have had the power to authorise that spending.

After the Cabinet agreed to this potentially improper use of resources, the Council sent a letter to every household in the city, asking residents if they were over 65 and if they wanted to receive the proposed 10% discount.  The cost of this exercise was met entirely by the local tax-payer.

The cost and political nature of these letters came to light when constituents who received the letter contacted their local MP.

Dr Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, said:

“That the Tories believe it is an appropriate use of resources to write to everyone in Southampton asking them if they are aged over 65 is wasteful enough.  That they would do so in order to publicise a policy proposal that has not ever been approved by a majority of elected councillors is grossly inappropriate.  Whatever we think of this policy proposal, spending £100,000 before it has been decided by the Council is just not right.”

“I have already written to the Council Accounting Officer asking about the legality of this spending, and as of today I am still waiting for a reply.  However I believe we have now reached the point where this has to be referred to the District Auditor.”