Just posted this initial comment about the proposed Bristol City Council budget: A prudent and responsible budget would not in my view plan to spend £400,000 on 'marketing the city'. You can do most for marketing the city by improving its performance - this will speak louder and objectively mean more than any marketing activities. I'd cut this budget by at least half and spend the £200,000+ gained on even more energy saving and insulation than is currently planned - this is badly needed with spiralling fuel bills, fuel poverty, economic recession threatening jobs and livelihoods and the need to urgently cut carbon emissions due to climate change.Thursday, December 11, 2008
Proposed Bristol City Council budget
Just posted this initial comment about the proposed Bristol City Council budget: A prudent and responsible budget would not in my view plan to spend £400,000 on 'marketing the city'. You can do most for marketing the city by improving its performance - this will speak louder and objectively mean more than any marketing activities. I'd cut this budget by at least half and spend the £200,000+ gained on even more energy saving and insulation than is currently planned - this is badly needed with spiralling fuel bills, fuel poverty, economic recession threatening jobs and livelihoods and the need to urgently cut carbon emissions due to climate change.
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Maybe we should think ourselves lucky, Glenn. After all, the Taxpayers' Alliance has uncovered the horrific figures for Local Authority "bigging ourselves up" slush funds - £1,000,000 average! The total local authority publicity wastage is now over £430 million.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.taxpayersalliance.com/waste/2008/12/council-spending-uncovered-councils-spend-average-of-1-million-a-year-on-publicity.html
I agreed with what Cllr. Mark Wright (Cabot) said at the State of the City debate, reported in the EP:
"Bristol City Council was ... accused of "visionary escapism" and not attending to "bread- and-butter" issues.
Liberal Democrat councillor Mark Wright (Cabot) lashed out at the authority's State of the City debate at the Council House, on College Green.
Despite attempts being made during the discussions to tackle immediate problems, such as the recession, Dr Wright attacked what he saw as lofty claims and high-flown ideas.
"Bristolians generally have a low opinion of this council," he said.
"I've heard an aspiration today for Bristol to be a European capital."
But he said ordinary people tended to raise bread-and-butter issues with their local councillors, such as when a drain would be cleared or a complaint dealt with.
Some of what he heard in the debate, however, was "visionary escapism", said Dr Wright.
"There is a tendency to go for grand things we can be good at because the little things are just too difficult to solve," he said..."
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Calls-council-focus-bread-butter-issues/article-518382-detail/article.html
I think he's got it!
Although I don't think "what the council's good at" says it though. It's more like that it's easy to win stupid awards for visionary BS when Bristol seems to be infested by more visionary BSers and backslappers than the rest of the country put together.
Yes, Cllr Wright does have a point I agree.
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