When key performance data finally landed, the results were clear: relative to before the pandemic, most metrics got worse. Spending on agency staff, a key justification for the trial, went up, not down as was intended.
If a council is in trouble, then the more daylight on the matter the better – publishing accounts acts as that daylight. The first step to solving a problem is recognising it exists.
They have also decided to cut the delivery of new key worker affordable rent homes and put up council rents by seven per cent.
True transparency comes from making everything easily accessible and understandable. When I was elected, as a Romford councillor in May last year, I started publishing every payslip I receive.
The whole process has done little to instil taxpayer confidence. Let us hope that lessons really are learned and such a dreadful waste of the public purse never happens again.
At a national level this one-size-fits-all policy is costing taxpayers around £20 billion a year in pay disparity between the public and private sectors.
Increases in Council Tax should be limited to two per cent. If local authorities want to raise it by more than that, a referendum should be required.
A heroic councillor in East Grinstead gives up his allowances. The people of Sandwell are indignant about high pay for town hall bosses.
Plus: Pet projects in Durham, with a £50 million new HQ. Councillors in Wolverhampton increase their allowances by 17 per cent.
If the government is providing the money for public services, it needs more control over how that money is spent.
How can it be fair that local residents are hit financially, yet councillors’ allowances and executive remuneration have both increased?
Plus: Gwynedd Council should not take the day off for St David’s Day. In Warrington, the nightmare that is council energy companies returns.
From failing energy companies, to white elephant projects, many local authorities have continued to pour public money down the drain.
Council staff and administrators are often handling the financial transactions via the payroll. It gives a motive to push spending up.
With new leadership in many local areas, there is lots of potential for bold and innovative ways to save money.