Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC) has followed the lead set by South Gloucestershire Council and begun publishing, online, detailed lists of all its spending.
The move follows a request made by the Editor of this publication that BSTC honour a commitment made in the Conservative Party’s General Election manifesto that local Councils be required to publish online every item of spending over £500, in order to “cut costs and tackle wasteful spending”.
Despite the party later reneging on its pre-election promise (the Coalition Government is now “urging” rather than “requiring” Councils to comply), the Town Council has commendably decided to:
“… publish all payment lists (including items below £500) in order to provide the community with full information of monthly expenditures.”
The information is a little hard to find – look for Monthly Expenditure under the Town Council menu option – but the Town Clerk says the next Council newsletter will highlight the new facility.
A quick look over the six months of data available on the website shows the biggest monthly item to be staff salaries and pensions (averaging around £14,000 and £3,500 respectively).
Other major items include the payment of £15,000 quarterly to Southern Brooks Community Partnership for youth work provision in the town and around £4,500 a month to Classic Landscapes for grounds maintenance.
The figures confirm that the Council is spending upwards of £540 a month on maintenance of the Baileys Court bowling green, a cost that was previously absorbed by the Northavon Bowls Club before the Council evicted it in May 2008.
Companies that might be less than pleased to see the financial details of their local government contracts revealed include Tilbury Douglas, charging a quarterly rent of £8,575 for the Council’s offices and event management firm Re-energize, receiving £17,843 in June for organising the 2010 Bradley Stoke Community Festival.
