Local council wastes money shock

Stevenage Council has admitted it was wrong to broadcast adverts promoting its services in the run-up to a local election, reports The Comet.

Three adverts commissioned by Stevenage Borough Council were broadcast on Hertbeat FM in April and May this year.

The ads boasted that 75 per cent of residents were happy with the council's services and 81 per cent found staff helpful.

The council is now to discuss how to recover the £763.75 it spent. One councillor said, "I have ... spent hours talking to the officers about it and I am as sure as I can be that it was a mistake not a conspiracy".

Hours? Not a good use of time. But if it was a mistake, what does it tell us about the mindset of the people who thought this was an acceptable way to spend taxpayers' money?

Of course central funding of political parties would authorise them to buy propaganda at taxpayers' expense.