Council's 'spin' budget is on the up by £100,000

4:30pm Sunday 17th February 2013 in News By Tim Ridgway, Local government reporter

A TOWN hall budget for spin is set to be hiked by £100,000 – as funding for the elderly, children’s centres and community groups is slashed.

After three years in a row of its communications team overspending, Brighton and Hove City Council has proposed to increase the unit’s budget by 15% to £784,000 for 2013/14.

The revelation comes just weeks before the local authority decides on how to make more than £17million of savings for 2013/14.

Town hall bosses believe the increase is needed to effectively get its message across to residents and its 8,000-strong workforce.

It comes as the council’s communications head John Shewell, who earned more than £60,000 a year, announced he had left his role after five years.

The Argus understands he received a pay-off of at least a five figure sum.

Mark Turner, of the GMB union, said he believed the extra money was to “PR the council’s latest tax increase”.

He added: “I find this absolutely astonishing and shocking when they are talking about cutting people’s pay.

“It’s for political parties to justify their decisions ahead of the next election, not the public service.”

According to latest estimates, the communications budget is on target for a £92,000 overspend in the current year.

Catherine Vaughan, the council’s head of finance, said the department had been trying to find ways to become selfsustainable, but “unachievable” income targets were not being reached.

She said more money was needed to maintain the current service.

When asked about the increase, Conservative councillor Geoffrey Theobald said: “I find it extremely surprising.

"To increase a budget because they cannot come in on target seems the wrong way round to me.”

But council leader Jason Kitcat said: “At a recent staff meeting internal communications was an issue of concern and it’s something that needs to be addressed when there are 8,000 members of staff.”

Coun Kitcat said the current set-up of half a full-time member of staff focusing on internal communications was “not enough”.

He added the local authority has extra responsibility when it took charge of public health from April.

Mr Shewell was placed under investigation last year after he described the council’s consultation on the budget setting process as “futile”.

A council spokeswoman refused to comment about if he received a payoff.

Comments(28)

006 and a third says...
4:47pm Sun 17 Feb 13

Here's a new campaign slogan:

"The Greens - serving you right 24/7

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upsidedowntuctuc says...
4:49pm Sun 17 Feb 13

can't make it up! Well they will make it up with all this extra 'spin' money All helps Jason get noticed by his party Brussels here he comes (They are welcome!!)
Services are being reduced so they can spin plus of course the decimation of our roads to stifle the city center 1.5 million for 20mph More for Lewes Road Next Old Steine and Lanes .

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dawind says...
4:58pm Sun 17 Feb 13

This at a time when Kitcat and his flunkys
have abolished help for those on Disabilty Benefit, so that BENEFIT money can stuff the (Council Tax) bank account. You DISGUST me Kitcat, how can you look in the mirror and not feel nauseous.

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RottingdeanRant says...
4:58pm Sun 17 Feb 13

Quote ‘ council’s communications head John Shewell, who earned more than £60,000 a year”. No he did not earn it he was paid that amount - there is a difference. In any case ‘internal communication’ should be the responsibility of all managers and not a separate group. Sack the lot of them and get the managers to do their jobs.

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Reporter1 says...
5:07pm Sun 17 Feb 13

If you only have one policy tou have brainwash people into believing it. I do believe that is rather Fascist. Some thought the main stream parties were bad. Live and learn. Do not vote the Facists in again or you could end up with one party no vote,
.

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george smith says...
5:20pm Sun 17 Feb 13

the problem is that they are not local, infact Kitcats Polish wife thinks we are inbred, the students that voted for them aren't local. the greens have nothing but contempt for locals, they will have their bit off fun and then clear off leaving brighton beleagured.

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NickBtn says...
6:19pm Sun 17 Feb 13

The spin team should be making the council look good. By whatever means you judge that doesn't look like they are succeeding! Similar sized commercial organisations could do far more with less.

Time to outsource this unit I suggest - plenty of small creative marketing companies in Brighton that could do much better for less money

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mimseycal says...
7:18pm Sun 17 Feb 13

What message are they trying to get across? That they are a hopeless bunch of ideologically bound wasters of the public purse? We knew that without this hike.

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Hove Actually says...
10:55pm Sun 17 Feb 13

How many fracking e-mails does £784,000:00 buy you?

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whatmost of us think says...
11:09pm Sun 17 Feb 13

Just a thought. How much cash has this council stashed away in reserves for a 'rainy day' and when will that rainy day arrive?

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A Watcher says...
11:35pm Sun 17 Feb 13

Problems with 'Internal communications' usually means that staff aren't being listened to. You don't need 100k to fix this, just decent leadership. Oh.... now I see the problem.

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Pebbles says...
4:53am Mon 18 Feb 13

Unbelievable!

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
9:02am Mon 18 Feb 13

I would imagine the guy had to leave because making Brighton and hove sound good is now an impossible job.
In the last year the nationals have picked up on loads of negative stories from the huge parking costs to dead fish.
The city's reputation is in tatters.

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george smith says...
9:09am Mon 18 Feb 13

Maxwell's Ghost wrote:
I would imagine the guy had to leave because making Brighton and hove sound good is now an impossible job. In the last year the nationals have picked up on loads of negative stories from the huge parking costs to dead fish. The city's reputation is in tatters.
Todays telegraph has the transgender Wc's on the front page

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Crystal Ball says...
10:04am Mon 18 Feb 13

Just about sums-up Brighton: Council spending way too much on themselves (rather than services for the residents), iSore, seriously under-used cycle lanes and public conveniences. Actually, public conveniences does the job in one.

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bikerjimbo says...
10:22am Mon 18 Feb 13

This is bad really bad. The Greens are doing a hopeless job with the city. I recall one of the councillors saying it was a bit of a lark. But it is a lark with our money. I can see no justification at all with having a 'spin' department at our expense. Surely you have to succeed on your own merits, there again it is politics so I quess that is why they have to 'spin' things. We are all the losers in this and that is what riles me. I only hope that things are retrievable when the next party takes over. I don't really care which party as long as there is a change. I also think that both Conservative and Labour should join forces to vote some of the ludicrous proposals down, ie cycle lanes, Lewes Road, 20 mph speed limit to name but three which are irksome. I note the other posts and most are in agreement with me on this. Surely we can't be wrong.

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whereisthe...? says...
11:00am Mon 18 Feb 13

Disgusting. Also wasting money on gender free toilets and other rubbish.


Protest?

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Smartbloke says...
11:45am Mon 18 Feb 13

Ah, good to see the Argus Comments Section in faux-outraged mode once again.

So many people who know so little about how to run the city making so much noise while saying so little.

Idiots - and yes, I'm looking especially at the utterly moronic Maxwell's Ghost - the suicide case who blames Caroline Lucas for icy weather.

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Smartbloke says...
11:48am Mon 18 Feb 13

The interesting thing is that the more the Argus dumps its tedious anti-Green spin on us, the more likely it is the Greens will be re-elected.

So many people have had enough of the Daily Mail-lite (sorry, the Argus'), it's no wonder they're losing reader hand-over-fist.

The realpolitik is - if the Argus wants another Green-led council, they should continue with their 1950s-style 'journalism'.

It's up to you.

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mimseycal says...
12:05pm Mon 18 Feb 13

No Smartbloke, it isn't up to the Argus but rather to the electorate when the next council elections are due in May 2015.

And if these type of posts are what the additional £100.000.- in the spin kitty is being spent on ... But no, even the Greens couldn't be that green when they can have HJarrs for nowt.

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qm says...
12:38pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Actually, the Comms department doesn't need to spend a penny to improve communications, they just need to listen more and speak less! It's free! It's also why God gave us two ears and just the one mouth!

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george smith says...
1:12pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Smartbloke wrote:
Ah, good to see the Argus Comments Section in faux-outraged mode once again. So many people who know so little about how to run the city making so much noise while saying so little. Idiots - and yes, I'm looking especially at the utterly moronic Maxwell's Ghost - the suicide case who blames Caroline Lucas for icy weather.
and of course you are an expert, is that why Brighton was in the national press over the fish last week, and today the WC's the well kept local joke now appears to be going national. Others can chuckle at us

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
1:43pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Smartbloke not. Arrogant bloke yes.
And if your colleagues stood for election one would hope they knew how to manage a city and listen to people.
But they haven't and so they have failed basic requirements of being councillors.
Don't shoot the messengers Smartbloke. It's not the posters making the decisions.
You're angry with the wrong people.

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upsidedowntuctuc says...
3:25pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Smartbloke wrote:
Ah, good to see the Argus Comments Section in faux-outraged mode once again.

So many people who know so little about how to run the city making so much noise while saying so little.

Idiots - and yes, I'm looking especially at the utterly moronic Maxwell's Ghost - the suicide case who blames Caroline Lucas for icy weather.
So true "So many people who know so little about how to run a City making so much noise while saying so little!"

That's the Greens and their supporters summed up! rest of us in real world suffer.
Well done

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nocando says...
6:40pm Mon 18 Feb 13

The much bleated about 'savage cuts' still not savage enough it would appear. These socialists flippant attitude to other peoples' money continues unabated, yet still they cry for more.
The fact I'm legally obliged to fund this insanity just adds insult to injury.
How do we get rid of these people?

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thevoiceoftruth says...
9:34am Tue 19 Feb 13

Good internal communications is about listening to feedback and talking to your staff. It shouldn't cost much at all. What are managers for?

I think perhaps the money is more likely to go towards the Green PR machine. Clearly, they are not getting the type of press coverage they would like.

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fredflintstone1 says...
11:10am Tue 19 Feb 13

Why do we need to pay for a spin doctor? The Greens have done really well of late. They've had massive publicity in the national press over the last couple of weeks for their gender-free toilets in Rottingdean, and the neglected fish left to die in Preston Park for fear of getting water on a cycle lane. Plus there's more to come from what I hear, including a film about their obsession on fencing off the city and cutting down trees in Wild Park to create a gigantic sheep farm.

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Resident in Hanover says...
10:29pm Mon 25 Feb 13

dawind wrote:
This at a time when Kitcat and his flunkys
have abolished help for those on Disabilty Benefit, so that BENEFIT money can stuff the (Council Tax) bank account. You DISGUST me Kitcat, how can you look in the mirror and not feel nauseous.
Bravo!

Take a break Kitty Cat.

You are a disaster.

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