It is the same old excuses

It is refreshing to see someone willing to clean up their environment at their own expense.

I have sent emails to the council before about the state of Washington.

The usual reply is cutbacks. When I then asked if the councillors have cut back on their expenses it always draws a blank with no response.

So have they cut back on their expenses or do we have to wait until the publication of their expenses against last year to confirm one way or the other? Eric Wilkinson Council which is making decisions on what services are cut and where money is spent.

The trade unions give the Labour Party millions of pounds a year. Is it right therefore to cut basic services yet continue to pay the salaries of full-time trade union officials at a cost of £240,000 per year?

Is it right to scrap basic security protecting our parks 365 days a year yet spend £31,000 on a three-day event in Barnes Park?

Recently the Washington Area Committee approved a budget of £50,000 to celebrate the “birthday” of Washington New Town.

It is the council that decided to award the ex-chief executive a £185,470 pay off. It then awarded his replacement a salary of £209,468. £66,968 more than the Prime Minister.

The council claims it can no longer carry out the services it has provided for years.

Why then do we still have the same number of cabinet members? If their responsibilities have reduced through no longer providing services, can they not reduce the number and merge responsibilities?

Given that service provision has declined, why did the Labour Council decide to add another tier of responsibility attracting additional allowances?

The positions previously referred to as ‘Project Lead Members’ were re-titled ‘Deputy Cabinet Members” and are there to support Portfolio Holders.

Likewise, why do we still have 75 councillors?

Staff numbers have reduced by 48% yet there has been no reduction in councillor numbers.

A third reduction would produce £400,000 in savings.

Finally, the council could try being more efficient. Sunderland Council is one of only a handful of councils which manage to run parking services at a loss. This amounts to £469,000 a year loss.

Newcastle made £6million. Even neighbouring Hartlepool managed a £476,000 profit at this. Alan Wright