Oct 2009 22

Wow – more self-promotion from West Mids councils3

Our local councils can be pretty incessant in their attempts to ‘wow’ us, but self-congratulatory newsletters and needless awards schemes for staff? Is this really what we pay our council tax for?

A Worcestershire based supporter emailed the WMTPA to complain about the county council flooding out their bi-annual newsletter to the tune of over £50,000 per year. But of the 215,000 copies of WoW posted through letterboxes and hidden in local newspapers alongside other advertising and junk, it’s fair to ask – how many are actually read? Fortunately for our councils, that’s impossible to quantify.

Of course the problem isn’t limited to Worcestershire (though incidentally, the same supporter received a Freedom of Information response which revealed his local edition of ‘A View From the Hills’ (Malvern) was also costing £18,000 per annum), but is prolific right across the West Midlands and the rest of the country – councils promoting themselves to us, their service users, who actually have no choice but to use the local authority anyway. And aren’t these the same councils who continually push the ‘green agenda’ and encourage us to recycle and generate less waste? Pot, kettle, black.

Junk Of course there’s a statutory obligation, imposed by central government, for councils to provide us with certain information, but as more and more of us connect to the internet aren’t cheaper, greener alternatives to these newsletters making themselves evident? Of course, hard copy information could be made available for those without access to the web, but  Worcestershire for one are showing no signs of cancelling their 215,000 print run to look for new, more efficient ways of communicating with the public.

This is 2009, and we’re in a recession. Getting rid of such unnecessary publicity – the glossy magazines, the newspapers, the leaflets, the general deluge of ‘information’ that seems to be fast tracked straight into the bin in most households – should be an easy way to cut the fat, minimizing waste and saving the taxpayer money.

But sometimes we might question whether saving money is even on the agenda for local government, or whether such matters upset the Zen of their love-in. Stoke-on-Trent City Council never fail to frighten/amaze, and after a bit of head-scratching  they’ve come up with yet another way to reward themselves. An extra day off at Xmas again (nope, that was so 2007…), a big slap up meal at residents’ expense (been there, done that!)  – so what’s this year’s understated way of satiating their desperate need for a bit of undeserved back-slapping? Cue, the WOW! Awards…

A website, some design work, a few certificates, a presentation event – it might not be megabucks, but is it really necessary to dream these things up when staff have shuffled along just fine without them? It’s the time and effort involved, diverting employees from their proper task of serving the city of Stoke onto the adult equivalent of a gold star and a round of applause from the rest of the class. How do other authorities cope without such accolades? Why do taxpayers have to shell out to pander to the egos of supposed professionals?

Put frankly, it’s less WOW! And more WHAT?!

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  • Lesley Williams

    Local authority self-promotion seems to be endemic throughout Britain. Here in Carmarthenshire we, too, are privileged to receive a glossy newsletter several times a year – which, needless to say, goes straight in the recycling bin because it is pure council propaganda. Now councillors have come up with an even better vainglorious idea: a council-funded tv channel. And this at a time when they will be cutting £6 million from next year’s budget!

  • Ann Burley

    We also Pay for umpteen newsletters which appear to pat everyone who works for any council on the back just for doing what they are paid to do however in our local parish if you dare to upset the Parish Council you will never receive one again
    as the clerk (all powerful paid employee)
    will refuse to walk up your path.Should I refuse to pay the Parish Precept/ Suffolk

  • Stacey H

    Have you considered the possibility that The Wow Awards may be just what is needed in order to ensure that the citizens of Stoke-on-Trent get the service they deserve from the council.
    If you have takent he chance to look at the Wow website you will appreciate that the awards are not to boost the egos of senior members of the council but to recognise and value those individuals on the front line who very often are look over. It is an incentive for employees of the council to provide the citizens of Stoke-on-Trent with high quality service that fully deserves recognition.