City council disparaged as £55k ‘squandered’ on branding drive
NEWPORT Council has been accused of breaking its own standing orders by allowing officers to spend £55,000 on an exercise to rebrand it as A City of Democracy.
The Labour-run authority hired the think-tank Res Publica to come up with proposals aimed at transforming the city’s image.
With its Chartist heritage, there are grounds to see Newport as an historical beacon of democracy.
But the Conservative opposition is unimpressed. Caerleon Tory campaigner Michael Enea said: “I was shocked when I found out how much money had been spent by Newport Council.
“The Labour-run council has refused to speculate how much they intend to spend in future, but at current levels that would be a hefty £250,000 over a five-year term, money our city can illafford to waste, particularly when pressure on our public services is so great.”
The leader of the council’s Tory group, Matthew Evans, said: “I can’t see any justification in squandering £55,000 of hard-working taxpayers’ money on a concept which appears to have little public support.
“Ironically, since Labour came back into power we have seen a huge democratic deficit with reduced scrutiny and ability to ask questions without notice.
“It’s ill-conceived and after six months of developing nothing more than a talking-shop, local residents will rightly ask ‘what have they got to show for it?’ There’s also some irony in the fact that the council has bypassed its own standing orders in authorising spending on the idea.”
The initiative was launched in October 2016 as “a unique selling point to attract investment and visitors” and to find new ways of engaging with residents in local decision-making. Using the Chartist connections, one idea would be to hold an annual Festival of Democracy.
Responding to a series of questions put by Mr Evans, council leader Debbie Wilcox said: “No executive decision has been required to date. The Res Publica work is simply a feasibility study. You will recall that the initial idea for promoting Newport as a City of Democracy was suggested by the Independent Chartist Commission.
“As Newport City Council is a member-led authority any decision to proceed with the initiative will be considered by cabinet in due course.”
When Mr Evans said that as the total spend on the project exceeded £25,000, the council’s contract standing orders should apply, Ms Wilcox said: “Contract standing orders do apply. [They] allow for an exemption from the requirement to seek tenders for a number of reasons. One of the reasons for an exemption is if the work required to be conducted needs specialist skills.
“The chief executive followed the process for an exemption in this case as, in his judgement, the feasibility study required specialist skills which were provided by Res Publica. This is a com- mon operational decision which doesn’t require an executive decision.”
In 2013 Newport City Council was strongly criticised after demolishing a renowned subway mural which commemorated the Chartist uprising of 1839, when almost 10,000 protesters descended on the city. About 22 demonstrators were killed when troops opened fire on them.
The leaders of the rebellion were convicted of high treason and sentenced to a traitor’s death. The sentence was later commuted to transportation for life.
The Chartists’ demands were votes for all men, equal electoral districts, abolition of the requirement that MPs be property owners, payment for MPs, annual general elections and the secret ballot.
The then leader of the council defended demolishing the mural, saying the people of Newport deserved popular restaurants like Nando’s that were built on the site as part of the Friar’s Walk shopping centre.