When your total council tax bill is running into thousands,
who is going to complain about a measly few extra quid? At least, this is what
our elected lords and masters hope. But it amounts to taxation by stealth and
in these times of austerity, every tax penny must be fully justified.
Don’t Call Me Dave was therefore disappointed to receive a
copy of ‘This is Chigwell’ - a glossy, full colour, eight page A4 ‘newsletter’
produced by the parish council. DCMD remembers the day when a newsletter was
printed on one sheet of paper in black and white. Councils are not supposed to
be magazine producers and DCMD shares the view of the Secretary of State for
Communities & Local Government, Eric Pickles, that local authorities should
not be wasting taxpayers money on such publications.
According to information provided by the council, the cost
of producing the newsletter for 2012/13 was £6,935.10. Advertising income was
£1,400, so the cost to taxpayers was £5,535.10. DCMD suspects the actual cost
to taxpayers was higher as the council’s figures cover printing, delivery and
postage only. No figures were provided for design, copywriting and production
costs.
Now in the grand scheme of things, does this really
matter? Essex County Council, for example, has a budget of over £2 billion and
they probably spend more than £5,000 on tea and chocolate biscuits for Director
meetings. But Chigwell Parish Council has a somewhat smaller budget. For the
year in question, the budget was £223,000 which means that nearly 2.5% was
spent on the newsletter alone. Is this really an appropriate use of scarce
resources?
Councillors will undoubtedly argue that in monetary terms it
is not a significant sum. And it is precisely this flawed logic, which
politicians regularly use to justify their profligacy, that enabled them to hike the
parish precept this year by 27%.
