The Labour Group Leader, Councillor Jim Grant, has accused Swindon Council of spreading misinformation to local residents over how their council-taxes are spent and has called on the Council to halt the delivery of a leaflet paid for and produced by Swindon Council, which is to go to every household in the town.
The Labour Group Leader, Councillor Jim Grant, has accused Swindon Council of spreading misinformation to local residents over how their council-taxes are spent and has called on the Council to halt the delivery of a leaflet paid for and produced by Swindon Council, which is to go to every household in the town.
In the leaflet the Council say that £8 of every £100 is spent on "Investment in major projects". This is referring to Council debt charges. The Labour Group Leader has now had it confirmed by Swindon Council’s finance department that the Council’s debt does not solely comprise of investment in major projects.
Therefore, the Labour Group’s objections to using the “Investment in major projects” line are twofold. Firstly, the line suggests this investment is in current projects whereas council debt is at its current level because of investment in past projects. Secondly, the Council debt does not even comprise of investment in past major projects.
The current overall debt charges figure is £9.7m. See Point 3.10 of this report for evidence.
The Leader of the Labour Group, Councillor Jim Grant, said:
“I am calling for the spreading of this misinformation to be stopped. I support the Council’s initiative to inform people how their council-taxes are spent but the Council is currently telling people false information. The debt charges figure is not insignificant and currently stands at £9.7m so they should be telling people about this. The Council should be honest that this is how people’s money is being spent.
I have been told by the Council’s finance department that the way the debt charges has been explained is not accurate and doesn’t allude to the fact people are still paying for projects that have happened in the past.
My suspicion is that this wording change has been done for political purposes to cover up the fact that Council debt charges are so high, as this leaflet is approved by the Council Leader. If this is the case, it would be true that council resources are being spent for political purposes, something banned in the Council’s constitution.
I call on the Council Leader to apologise for this misinformation being distributed and agree to halt any further leaflets being posted that spreads this inaccurate information.”