Council taxpayers foot bill for Labour propaganda exercise

10.59.10am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 23rd Nov 2006

Taxpayers have foot the £45,000 bill for the 'Your Council, Your Say' propaganda exercise carried out by Labour

Local council taxpayers have foot the £45,000 bill for a 'propaganda' exercise carried out by the Labour run Sheffield City Council. Lib Dems are critical of the 'Your Council, Your Say' exercise in which a short three question survey was sent out to all residents. Lib Dems have highlighted that most of the questions were loaded and designed to give Labour the result they wanted. Liberal Democrats can reveal that it cost local taxpayers £5 for every survey response the council got back

The main findings of the exercise were that people wanted action against litter droppers and anti-social behaviour, and also that residents wanted more cleanups. Local Lib Dems believe that the results show nothing new and that Labour should prioritise investment to front line services.

Cllr Paul Scriven, Leader of the Sheffield Liberal Democrat Group on Sheffield City Council, said: -

"This exercise has cost the taxpayer £45,000. When you consider that there have been 9,200 responses, local taxpayers have paid about £5 for every response. This doesn't represent good value for money"

"However, its becoming more and more clear that this exercise wasn't genuine consultation. It has been a Labour propaganda exercise on the rates. Most of the questions were loaded and there was no input from anyone other than Labour on what questions should be asked"

"We know that local people want extra clean-ups and more action against anti-social behaviour. So instead of spending money on propaganda Labour should be getting on with the job. For example, the £45,000 spent on 'Your Council, Your Say' could have been used to employ at least 2 extra street cleaners"

Ends

See results of the 'Your Council, Your Say' exercise below: -

Question 1

As part of our work to keep Sheffield's streets clean, we fine people £75 for dropping litter. Should we put any extra resources we have for street cleansing into:

• More education campaigns to encourage people not to drop litter? (16%)

• More clean-ups across the city? (41%)

• Taking tougher action against people who drop litter? (43%)

Question 2

You have told us that you want to be able to recycle more. Should we do less frequent black bin collections in order to pay for more recycling?

• Yes (31%)

• No (64%)

• Don't know (5%)

Question 3

You have told us that you want to feel safer and more secure in your neighbourhood. Should we use the tools available to us, for example, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) and fines to crack down even harder on anti-social behaviour?

• Yes (90%)

• No (4%)

• Don't know (6%)