Comment: Efficiency data vital for public

Jan 25 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

IF GOVERNMENT figures are to be believed, Liverpool city council tops the leader board for wasting money. The authority has been singled out as a council which is forced to pay high bills because money is not being spent efficiently.

Liverpool achieved this dubious distinction after civil servants worked out the potential savings at the ten biggest spenders. Local government minister John Healey has gone so far as to claim Band D council tax payments in the city would drop by £101 if the city council stamped out waste.

Now the minister plans to claw back £4.9bn from councils in efficiency savings over three years.

The news could not have come at a more inconvenient time for the authority, which is already looking for ways to plug a predicted £60m hole in its budget for the 2008/09 financial year, based on a 3.7% council tax rise.

Last month, city council leader Warren Bradley condemned the govern- ment’s latest funding settlement, liken- ing it to a “kick in the teeth” which would cost the council around £30m over three years, compared to other local authorities.

The Local Government Association has also weighed in on behalf of Liverpool, observing: "If Whitehall were to follow the example set by councils, then perhaps people could look forward to a cut in their income tax."

But city residents will no doubt be pleased by the minister’s plan to ensure all authorities include details of how they rate on efficiency on council tax bills – as an incentive to cut waste.

Mr Healey says council tax payers and businesses have every right to expect improving services and better value for money.

His rationale is that those who contribute towards services are entitled to know how their council is performing on efficiency when they receive their bills. And, regardless of what the city council thinks of the Government’s waste league table, is difficult to imagine any of the city’s council-tax payers arguing with that.