Spending watch

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.“