Spending watch

Spending watch: May 2011

The true extent of Sefton's savings is laid bare in this month's Council Spending Watch.

Belt tightening is underway in the borough as Sefton Council has already cut back over half of their outgoing spends over £500.

This week the local authority published all of their outgoing transactions over £500 for May 2011.

During that month, the council spent a total over £18.9million, which is a significant saving of £15.7million from the previous year.

This compared to some £34.6million in the same month for 2010 – a 55% total decrease in spending which reveals the enormity of council savings.

Nearly £2million of this was cut from the police and fire service council payments.

The most recent total spending figure, May 2011, is also £6.9million less than the amount spent in April, the previous month.

Some £1.36million was spent on Merseyside Police Authority during May 2010, however during May 2011, the contribution plummeted to just £3,197.

In May 2010 over £605,285 was spent on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service compared to £13,106 in May 2011.

The amount spent on Merseytravel increased from £12,755 to £13,106 but the total cost of Arvarto public services plummeted by £1.5million to just £60,000.

Legal services ‘supplies and services' cost the taxpayer some £66,402 while scientific ‘supplies and services' came to £47,626.

It's hardly a scandal considering the council's outgoing funds but £53,650 was spent on ‘general expenses', with over £20,000 of this being claimed by Sefton Sports council.

Sefton Council has even trimmed back postage, which cost the council over £80,000 during April but then fell to £17,233 in May.

Also cut was printing costs, which came to £62,000 in April but fell to just over £44,000 in May.

Over £18,000 was still spent on Carlsberg leisure and tourism sports facilities, under headings ‘catering' and ‘miscellaneous'.

Coca-cola received some £1,298 of Sefton taxpayers' money for items such as ‘sports facilities' and ‘schools catering'.

Council Spending Watch aims to give people a clear view as to how their taxes are being spent and what the council's priorities are.

Emma Boon, campaign director for the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: “The council spends taxpayers money and Sefton’s residents have a right to know what they are spending it on, so that they can hold the council to account and make sure they’re getting value for money.”

Spending watch: April 2011

It might be the first month of the new financial year but Sefton Council coughed up over £25.8million worth of taxpayers' money throughout April.

Council Spending Watch aims to give people a clear view as to how their taxes are being spent and what the council's priorities are.

The highest payment on the list remained Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority at a cost of just over £2.32m.

Precept payments featured highly on the list with £1.35m going towards Merseyside Police, £317,571 being invested in Maghull Town Council and £600k spent on Mersey Fire Authority.

Over £250,000 was spent on the Citizen's Advice in Bootle, with payments being listed under ‘corporate finance' and ‘third party payments'.

Sefton spent £46,605 on meetings with £1,575 on welcoming officials from Halton Borough Council and £19,784 for ‘educational psychologists' conference.

The council managed to splash out over £100,000 on catering provisions, almost all of this was for school dinners with nearly a fifth spent on Birtwistles butchers'.

Photocopying costs turned out at a hefty £62,000, postage a further £85,000 and the amount spent on printing and stationary was £56,000.

Over £131,000 was spent on Bupa Care Services, in three separated amounts listed under ‘third party payments'.

Sefton's supplies and services department also paid £2,686.63 on Carlsberg ‘catering provisions' and £4,186 on ‘clothing etc' for cleansing and adult daycare.

Libraries may be suffering from cutbacks but Sefton Council still managed to impressively invest in nearly £30,000 in books throughout April.

And for whoever said crime doesn't pay, the council gave £161,993 to Warrington Borough Council for a ‘Youth Offending Team'.

Emma Boon, campaign director for the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: “The council spends taxpayers money and Sefton’s residents have a right to know what they are spending it on, so that they can hold the council to account and make sure they’re getting value for money.”

Spending watch: December 2010

Cash-stricken Sefton Council spent nearly £30million in December including £280,000 for private healthcare and £53,336 for golf course maintenance.

The council's monthly expenditures of over £500 are being published as part of a Government drive to promote transparency and ensure value for taxpayers' money.

The Champion can reveal that the authority, which is expected to cut £44million from its annual budget, made 3,376 outgoing transactions of over £500 in one month.

The reports show the council shelled out over £170,000 on gas and electricity and £38,000 on phone bills.

Struggling Sefton Council expect to lay off a quarter of senior management along with youth clubs and Sure Start centres in order to meet savings targets.

During December, Sefton Council paid out £38,494 to British Telecom, £281,450 was given to BUPA and a bill for Scottish Power cost £171,861.66.

Also revealed for the first time was the council's Merseyside police contribution for December (£1,360,674), their Merseyside fire contribution (£602,703) and transport (£2,430,400).

The new costs show the council gave £26,376 to Cumbria County Council and £98,242 to Wirral Borough Council.

Emma Boon, campaign director for the Taxpayers' Alliance, claims the report demonstrates how savings can be made without front line services being affected.

She said: “It’s great that Sefton Council is now publishing spending online but they must be truly open and tell us what the payments to Cumbria and Wirral councils was for.

”It is unacceptable to give no explanation for spending taxpayers’ money.

”The council has to make significant and necessary spending cuts in the coming years, and it is clear from looking through their spending that there are savings that can be made without front line services being affected.“

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has called for every council to become more open and accountable about every aspect of their work.

He said: ”The public have a right to know how their tax pounds are spent, and those yet to deliver are running out of excuses and time before they have to face their electorate.“

February 2011 spending watch.

Council Spending Watch reveals that Sefton Council spent over £25.2million in February alone – despite having to save £44million in the next financial year.

While council officials were busy deciding how to cut 1,000 staff from their books, during the month the authority spent £55,000 on training and recruitment.

They also spent £11,139 on photocopying, £31,908 on books and over £11,000 on ‘postage etc'.

During February, the council spent £11,099,992 on ‘third party payments' and a further £139,642 on catering supplies.

Transport remains high on the council's agenda with £404,604 being spent but over a quarter of this was spent on taxis.

A further £2,430,400 was also spent on Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority.

For other services the council spent £1,458,454 in February on Arvato who look after corporate finance, £1.4m on Merseyside Police and £1.3m on Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority.

The council also spent £602,703 on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and £204,252 on careers' company Connexions.

A statement on the Sefton Council website says: “At Sefton Council we are committed to making our finances clear, so that everyone can see exactly how we are spending money.

"As part of our commitment to providing financial transparency, the Council will publish regular reports on items of spend over £500.

”Our objective is to obtain best value for the procurement of supplies and services for the Council.

"We aim to operate fair and open competition by following transparent and auditable procedures in all tendering and contracting activity.“

Campaign directors for the Tax Payers' Alliance have praised a Champion initiative to keep track of the Sefton Council's spending.

Council Spending Watch aims to give people a clear view as to how their taxes are being spent and what the council's priorities are.

This year for the first time the council's monthly expenditures of over £500 are being published as part of a government drive to promote transparency and ensure value for taxpayers' money.

Emma Boon, campaign director for the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: “Gold medals all round, it’s absolutely fantastic that The Champion are doing their bit for transparency by publishing this column.

”We were delighted when councils started publishing their spending online – it’s something that we’ve campaigned for long and hard – but not everyone has access to the internet, it’s good to know those that don’t won’t miss out.

“The council spends taxpayers money and Sefton’s residents have a right to know what they are spending it on, so that they can hold the council to account and make sure they’re getting value for money.”