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In 2008 the parish council increased its budget by a factor of
three over that for 2007. There is no limit on how much it can increase.
If it wants to pay £800,000 for a new parish office (as some
councillors did at the time) it can.
The parish council failed to honour the promise by Cllr Raymond
Smale to consult on the budget when he was first elected.
"We will spend the first period consulting with the townspeople, shopkeepers
and other interested groups about what they want to do and formulating our
programme ... We will go back to the townspeople and tell them what it will cost and ask
them if they want it."
The Comet - 2 June 2005
Were you consulted?
Here are the things on which Letchworth Parish Council intended to spend £600,000 that year...
| Staff Wages | £102,800 |
| Staff Pensions | £20,000 |
| Staff Expenses, Welfare & Training | £6,200 |
| Accountants Fees & Audits | £4,000 |
| Council Office Rental | £34,400 |
| Office Equipment | £10,200 |
| IT Equipment | £51,000 |
| Council Website | £1,200 |
| Councillor Expenses | £6,900 |
| Events Administration | £58,300 |
| Subscriptions | £4,000 |
| Meetings and Conferences | £10,000 |
| Advertising and Publications | £6,600 |
| Policy Development | £50,000 |
| Contingencies | £30,000 |
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| Total Running Costs | £395,600 | = 66% |
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| Events | £48,000 |
| Centenary Year Project | £40,000 |
| Grants & Donations | £71,500 |
| Crime Prevention | £14,000 |
| Allotments | £31,000 |
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| Total Non-running Costs | £204,500 | = 34% |
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| Grand Total | £600,100 |
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These figures are taken from the Council's own budget document.
You can see that most of the money is wasted on things that do not benefit the residents of Letchworth. How would you rather spend that money?
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