Black-buried in small print ... £15,000 to serve swankers!

A report to the cabinet tonight sets out the council's financial position at the end of February.
As is always the case, there are enough numbers here to choke a donkey, but sometimes its the figures within the figures that catch the eye.
For instance, the report mentions a staff savings target of £100,000 to be met by not filling vacancies.
However, it shows that whilst salary costs have gone down, overtime has gone over budget, and agency and temporary staff costs have soared beyond estimates to the tune of £296,000.
Consultancy fees also guzzle up wheelbarrows full of £50 notes.
The bill spent by the council comes to £81,540 - including almost £19,000 "archaeological services."
But this is dwarfed by Boston Area Regeneration Company's consultancy bill, which stands at £145,860 - most of it going to Tribal and Focus, the borough's pet consultants, who must be purring with delight.
And whilst we joke about bankers and other city slickers who'd rather be separated from their right arm than their Blackberry, it's no laughing matter to find an item of expenditure of £15,000 for Blackberry Enterprise Server - or Blackbery sever as the report refers to it - maintaining the hilarious misspellings and haphazard use of capital letters that has made council documents a local legend.
The question to be asked here is how many Blackberries has the borough handed out to staff (and presumably councillors) and why they're so important. They are really just gadgets for poseurs, and there are a lot of cheaper alternatives on the market - if alternatives are needed at all.
Then there are things such as the loss of income expected from the Guildhall.
Figures there show a steady decline in visitors following its lengthy closure for a highly expensive restoration, and on November last year numbered just THREE in November last year, surging to 38 in December.
Visits to the Haven and TIC were also lamentable.
We appreciate that running the business known as Boston Borough Council is a complex affair.
But there are stories in reports like these that tell of unnecessary spending on items and services, and we feel sure that a closer look at where the money is going could result in better deployment of resources.

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