“Stop the cuts by starting the cuts closer to home” is the message to the council following the scandalous revelations of profligate spending County Hall was forced to reveal this week.
This was the conclusion from Alliance campaigners following their trawl through the 400 plus pages of spending data made public by the Isle of Wight Council on Tuesday. “The long-overdue publication of hundreds of pages of „spendomania? covering just six months show tens of thousands frittered away on outside consultants and even £4,000 on a posh party at the exclusive Royal Yacht Squadron, in Cowes, while workers lose their jobs by the hundred.”, said Mike Starke, Alliance committee member.
He continued, “most shocking is an indication of just how far the Isle of Wight Council has secretly taken us along the path to privatisation. The once respected post of County Treasurer is now farmed out to a one-man band company, Dave Burbage Ltd, which has been paid nearly £74,000 for the six months; the equivalent of £148,000 a year. “Here is where the cuts should fall, not on the front line services.
Let’s continue to press the urgent need for a change of heart by councillors – some are already coming round to it – before it’s too late and we find ourselves locked into yet more unaccountable private contracts for public facilities.” The Isle of Wight Stop the Cuts Alliance is calling upon Island residents to „phone their councillor once the ruling group budget is published on Friday of this week, to arrange a meeting – the spending data should feature high on people?s list of difficult questions.
The Spotlight on Spend website is available via the following link: http://www.iwight.com/council/transparency/
