WASTEFUL COUNCIL PHONE BILLS ATTACKED (Durham Liberal Democrats)

Durham Liberal Democrats <info@durhamlibdems.org.uk>

WASTEFUL COUNCIL PHONE BILLS ATTACKED

August 26, 2010 12:00 AM

A North East council is being accused of failing to get to grips with spending after a local councillor discovered that it is paying for more than 6000 mobile phones and spending hundreds of thousands on land lines as well.

Durham County Council, which two years ago commenced the movement to a Unitary Authority, is being accused of failing to get to grips with what one councillor is calling "unacceptable" phone bills.

County Councillor Mark Wilkes, Councillor for the Framwellgate Moor division has discovered that the total phone bills are in excess of £1 million pounds, with one officer running up a bill of £638 for a three month period on their mobile phone.

Councillor Wilkes commented:

"Every time the County Council talks about cuts to frontline services and jobs, it is easy to see where significant savings can be made without doing this. For an individual's phone bill to be amounting to £2000 a year, is simply unacceptable. And how on earth can we justify over 6000 mobile phones, with hundreds of them costing us money and not even being used?"

The councillor is urging every department within the Council to investigate who requires a phone and to take them off those who don't need or use them. He also cited a single phone call that cost £108.34, and has discovered that the council is paying tens of thousands of pounds for phones from which no call is ever made.

Last year Councillor Wilkes challenged the cost for councillors' phones and says that, as a result, the council altered contracts thereby saving thousands of pounds.

He commented "Having made enquiries this week, just by sending an email, we will save £9,000 overnight, some officers are already on the case and I honestly believe that over the course of a year we could be spending hundreds of thousands less on phone bills."

And, in a recommendation to the Council, he added "Employees must consider whether a phone call is cheaper to make by mobile or landline or even necessary at all and senior management must look at just how many people really do need a taxpayer-funded mobile phone in their department.

Councillor Wilkes' colleague, Councillor Kevin Thompson, Spennymoor and Middlestone added "It is clear that the mess the Labour government got the country in with its finances is a systemic problem which runs through so many Labour run councils as well. Labour can't blame anyone else for this appalling waste and should get its act together."

Whilst Lib Dem councillor for the Durham City Division of Neville's Cross, Grenville Holland said "Unitary government was brought in on the promise that our resources would be used more effectively and that this would lead to significant efficiency savings. If we can save several hundred thousand pounds on this item alone, and repeat this exercise across the authority, then we can help frontline services that need those resources to survive. In the present economic climate such savings will become essential."

Durham County Council is having to find savings as part of Local Government Review which saw the disbanding of district councils, as well as savings as part of the national cut backs.

Lib Dem councillors have thrown down a challenge to Labour-run administration with Councillor Wilkes stating "I for one will continue to root out these failures. The people of County Durham deserve better and if Labour can't get its act together, its councillors should resign and let the people of County Durham elect councillors who will sort out Labour's financial disaster."