Mr Mustard had taken months getting his last blog post together about the spending on Highways, with no thanks to Cllr Rutter who was unhelpful on the subject even after she had been extolling the roads of Barnet - best not to talk hogwash to Residents' Forums if you don't want to read about it in a blog later!
Also best not to write to residents with the starting line " I can see you have been busy " either Cllr Rutter. It is not the job of the Mayor to try and poke Council Tax Payers in the eye. I am sure that the residents of Brunswick Park ward will be singularly impressed with that approach.
Anyway, Mr Mustard digresses. He is very grateful to the Barnet Bugle who you can follow on twitter and who make many applications under the Freedom of Information legislation using the website http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/
The Barnet Bugle rather cleverly asked for the figures on Audit spending for the last few years which is a parallel application to Mr Mustard's one about Highways Spending.
| Year | Spending £ | Staff FTE |
| 2005/6 | 481,811 | 9 |
| 2006/7 | 604,482 | 10 |
| 2007/8 | 598,340 | 8 |
| 2008/9 | 522,670 | 6 |
| 2009/10 | 473,363 | 5 |
| 2010/11 | 410,170 | 5 |
FTE=Full time equivalent i.e. how many full time staff the workers equate to.
So there we have it.
Each year there is plenty of money for spending on OneBarnet which is just a money-pit and spending on useful and essential items like Audit and Roads goes down. No sensible Council would do such a thing but then we are in Barnet.
OneBarnet - OneDisasterAfterAnother
Being frugal does not mean cutting spending on services which ensure that money is being spent wisely - services like Audit.
Why not ask the Mayor about this reduction in vital spending on Audit or on Highways, or about MetPro, or about legionella in care homes, or why the Chief Finance Officer is a contractor on £1,000 a day, or any of the other bonkers ideas that Barnet Council are trying under the OneBarnet banner.
This is where and when she has her surgery.
Lisa Rutter (Con) 020 8445 3829 cllr.l.rutter@barnet.gov.ukSurgery details: Last Saturday every month
Osidge Library, Brunswick Park Road, N11 2.30pm – 4pm
It must be lonely; why not go and ask her some questions to liven up her day.
Yours frugally
(nick walkley)
The people of Barnet will be pleased that Mr Mustard is bringing some comfort to a lonely Councillor, who is otherwise only watching the tumbleweed blowing down the library corridors, squeaky doors with broken hinges swinging back and forth in the wind, and vultures circling slowly overhead.
ReplyDeleteAt a Residents' Forum Cllr. Rutter said "The Councillor is your friend" so I am sure she will be writing to thank me for making sure she has some company and something interesting to talk about. She forgot my birthday though.
ReplyDelete