Labour in the Dock

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 10th Apr 2009

County Councillor Barrie Taylor

Liberal Democrat County Councillors have claimed that taxpayers' money was used to produce leaflets to raise the profile of Labour county councillors - without any authorisation. The Liberal Democrat group lead by Whaley Bridge Councillor Barrie Taylor says details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that eight Labour councillors on Derbyshire County Council, including several Cabinet members, had over 16,000 leaflets printed between them - at an estimated cost of around £1,400.

The leaflets generally showed a portrait of the councillor and listed good-news stories of work by the county within that councillor's electoral division, under the heading 'News From Your County Councillor' and with the county's standard colours and logo.

Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Barrie Taylor, who represents the Whaley Bridge and Blackbrook ward, who is fuming about the issue said: "I believe the sense of outrage among opposition members will be shared by the public at large.

"There is no evidence that this practice ever received proper approval,and it was certainly never publicised to opposition members.

"The leaflets are probably just legal, as they don't actually refer to the Labour party, but the intention is plain, and they have been paid for out of council tax."

In February, the Labour Cabinet agreed to increase all 64 county councillors' Members Community Leadership Scheme budget - a fund used by councillors to support projects in their ward - by an extra £200, to £4,200 per annum. This equates to an extra £12,800.

The additional £200 can be used to cover costs associated with the printing and distribution of around 5,000 leaflets a year for their own division.

However, members of the opposing Liberal Democrat and Tory groups called the decision in for scrutiny.

Barrie adds: "It takes no account of the past unauthorised expenditure by councillors on such leaflets, and in practice would have encouraged all Labour councillors to print more leaflets, paid for by public money, in the run-up to the county elections. Opposition members would not wish to make any use of this facility."

"However the scrutiny committee, chaired and controlled by the Labour party, refused to consider the issue, claiming it did not meet the criteria for the call-in procedure. This makes a mockery of the whole call-in scrutiny process."