Last Tuesday evening brought the delights of the council's Strategy & Resources committee. One item on the agenda proposed that the council employ a part-time climate change officer over two years at a cost of £45,000.
This would have been an entirely new position and I was somewhat surprised. These are tough financial times - Residents' Association councillors have forced through deeply unpopular cuts like closing public toilets and abolishing free parking for Blue Badge holders. Moreover the RAs have had to freeze council staff pay. So, however important the issue of climate change may be, why would we want to be creating new positions at this particular point in time?
RA councillors had not bothered to check where this money had come from and with what conditions. I discovered that it came from a grant which was not ring fenced. It therefore could be used to fund work the council already does thereby saving the taxpayer £45,000 instead of saying us absolutely nothing.
When I pointed this out the RA Chairman of the committee, Eber Kington, quickly realised the error of his ways, but miserably couldn't persuade his own group to make such an obvious saving. It really is amazing that with tough decisions to be made the RAs aren't bothering to check whether every vacancy needs to be filled and whether any proposed new role is necessary. More than that though when us Conservatives show them the light they struggle to find their way to the right decision. Not very inspiring behaviour from the ruling group on the council, simply adding to the terrible repututation they have in relation to the Borough's finances.
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