Dudley Council has been exposed for spending £110,000 per-year on bottled water. The report in today’s Express and Star comes ahead of tonight’s BBC Panorama programme, naming them as one of the worst culprits.
Dudley Council are now disputing the figures despite the fact they were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act from the council themselves, and have told the Express and Star that they’ve spent more like £32,500 – as though this amount is somehow acceptable. Apparently this sum would put them on a par with most local authorities.
This is yet another example of just how cavalier local government has become in its attitude toward public funds. Councils should be striving to cut costs and seeking to root out areas like this where they are needlessly haemorrhaging money, not defending spending thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on such frills, and when there’s water in the tap there really aren’t any excuses...