“Time to think outside the box”

[Acrylic-bob]

Council Leader Peter Britcliffe, who thinks he is worth £16,000 a year and doesn’t care who knows it, has provided yet more evidence of why this is so.
Writing in the Observer this week (page41), he addresses the issue of the Council’s use of our money collected in the form of Council Tax.

Britcliffe: “Town centres, recreational facilities and cleansing are but three of the many issues people bring to my attention. When I tell them that there is no money to address these problems, they want to know why that should be. Well, the fact is that virtually all the monies we collect in Council Tax are spoken for; to pay for things like cleansing and parks maintenance, and £2M each year goes to pay off debt that has mounted in the 30 years since Hyndburn was formed in 1974.”

He then goes on to explain that the only way to pay for the services and facilities that people want is to increase Council Tax.

Britcliffe: “ When I tell you that a one percent increase in Council Tax brings in £35,000, you don’t need to be a maths professor to work out that to keep pace with inflation and undertake the Broadway project (approximately £350,000), Council Taxes would have to increase by 13% next year. I can hear you shudder…”



Oh yes, Peter, we are shuddering alright!



I am not a Math’s Professor, but I could work out this; according to “The Guardian” (14th September 2004), C.P.I., the Government’s favoured method of calculating inflation, currently stands at 1.3%. This would add £45,000 to Council Tax. Add in the cost of the Broadway project, £350,000, and that gives a total of £395,000, or an 11.3% increase. Not 13%.



If HBC and its leader, Peter – I’m worth every penny – Britcliffe, cannot do simple arithmetic, it is no wonder that they find themselves in such woeful financial straits.

In fact the only wonder is that the situation is not much, much worse.

I’m sorry Peter, but the time has come for you to face facts; you are not cut out for this career politician lark. Resign now, before you do any more damage, and take your buddy, Rix, with you.

[lettie]

Please please write that to the Observer. Go on, you know you want to.. I wholeheartedly agree with what you've written. If Britcliffe was a football manager, he would have been ousted by the fans a long time ago.

[WillowTheWhisp]

If he was in business he'd have gone bankrupt long before now.

[Darby]

Go on A-Bob send a letter to the Observer. I'll support you and you can use my name too. What you have just written is common sense, not that Britcliffe will understand it!

[Tealeaf]

Have a look at this:

http://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/Your_Co...acc2003-04.pdf


It's HBC's accounts for the financial year ending March 2004. Three little statements stand out:

1) Refer to page 20......"Publicity". Expenditure 02/03 = £140K. Expenditure 2003/04, £195K......39% increase over one year. Why?

2)Page 21...employees Renumeration. Employees earning over £70K, 2002/3 = Nil. 2003/4, Employees over £70K = 2. Who and why?

3 )Page 23. "Members allowances" 200/3 = £145K. 2003/4 = £191K. Increase 32%. Why?


It seems to me that Hyndburn Council is no more than a gravy train for Britcliffe, Rix and their cronies...any comments, A-B?

[Acrylic-bob]

Yeah mate, plenty, but none of them are suitable for mixed company!

[Tealeaf]

Oh, I missed this bit.....page 3 of the auditors report.

"At the mid-year position, budget monitoring suggested that the council was on course for a £1.8m overspend.....". It then breaks down the reasons and the repective amounts. of that £1.8m, some £750,000 was being spent on "Council Restructure".....in other words, shifting their arses from one desk to another and forking out money on expensive stationary with their new fancy titles written all over the place.

And these clowns are now flogging off the market hall, because there's no money in the pot?

[WillowTheWhisp]

How can we stop this madness???????????????

[Acrylic-bob]

Yes but did you see page 5? Under the heading Capital Expenditure for 2003/4

there is this item: Accrington Market £152,000

Scaitcliffe House Offices £113,000
E-government Initiatives £130,000

So they can find enough money to pamper their fat backsides with and put together a no-hope website, but they cannot find enough to make sure that Broadway looks a little less like Beirut, or that Milnshaw Park is kept in a reasonable state of repair. This despite their Responsibilities clearly stated on Page 2, to whit: "To manage it's affairs to secure economic, efficient and effective use of resources and safeguard it's assets."

"30 years of service to the community"?

more like

30 years of taking the p*ss!

[ShortStuff]

I think we should all put a fiver in and buy the Market Hall ourselves! In fact - if AccringtonWeb buys everything on sale we could become the new local government - we would all make a much better job of it!

[WillowTheWhisp]

The whole of Accrington could become a joint commune, like a kibbutz only different.

[JohnW]

It's a bit like the Telecom selloff though isn't it. They're selling us something which we already own!

[Less]

HBC would get their revenge, if we got the market working as a going concern, they would slap a compulsory purchase order on it stating that they need the land for somewhere to site the Arndale Clock!