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Two days ago I sent out the following press release to two of the local newspapers. I don’t mind sending them. It would be nice to see one printed once in a while but hey.
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Gentlemen,
I have just returned from the official launch of the Family Intervention Project at the C.H.E.S.S centre in Camp Hill, Nuneaton. In attendance were slightly over one hundred public sector workers paid out of taxpayers money. The Family Intervention Project itself is a project that gains unanimous support from across the political spectrum because of the effect that it has been shown to have in hard to reach and deprived communities.
What struck me though was the waste of taxpayers money on the launch. Timetabled from 10:00 - 14:00 I was expecting informative presentations. Senior officers from Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and our partner agencies about the benefits that the scheme can be expected to deliver and information for the employees of the agencies present about how their roles will develop to assist the overall goals.
This I did get and excellent the speakers were too but only for one and a half hours. The remainder of the time was taken up by networking prior to the start and lunch after the speeches. Networking from 10:00 until 11:20 turned out to be groups of people who already knew each other talking shop. 12:45 until 14:00 was on the agenda as 'Lunch'. This was more chat time while enjoying the catering before leaving.
There were several people in the room who I would estimate earn in excess of £50,000 per year and the number in excess of £30,000 I could not guess at. The accumulated salary bill for this four hour launch must be incredible when one and a half hours for the presentation would have done nicely. In these times of serious economic hardship I was unhappy to witness this wasteful launch to such a wonderful project.
Cllr Martyn Findley,
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council
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The newspapers apparently are not too bothered about reporting a waste of taxpayers money. At least not when I bring them the information. Had someone else brought this to the fore I am sure that it would have received some space.
Your taxes paid these people and you deserve to know.
The costs of the launch were met by the Department for Children Schools and Families not Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council. The salary costs of the officers present were of course met by their public sector employers.
