Borough blows £55,000

in two months on

"community projects"

A report to last night’s cabinet of curiosities included an update on the future of the Boston Area Partnership – a gaggle of the great and the good whose objective is “to improve the local quality of life and regeneration of the Borough through improved planning and delivery of services and activities.”
It unites organisations, such as the police, NHS, Boston College, Boston Borough Council and Lincolnshire County Councils, and representatives from the voluntary, community and private sectors.
BAP was on the agenda because local strategic partnerships are under review after changes to government policy and the overhaul of partnership arrangements at a county level.
The recommendation was for a slimmed-down organisation to ensure that a structure continues to help coordinate and deliver services to meet community needs.
To us this sounds likes the rose by any other name that will smell as much – and we suspect that little, if anything will change.
Boston Borough Council clings like a limpet on a rock to supporting things that it equally need not bother with – which would mean considerable savings for local taxpayers.
The report to the cabinet said that the involvement of partners had been particularly crucial in the areas of health improvement.
It drew attention to the fact that Boston is no longer the fattest and least fit town in England, mentioned the utterly pointless Placecheck scheme, investment from its GP Cluster for health trainers which doubled staffing, plus getting £5,000 sponsorship for the ‘Go Walking in Boston’ booklet.
As if all that were not enough the Big Boston Clean Up – in which taxpayers do a job they pay the council for - and the Boston Community Showcase, at which the borough do-gooders peddle their wares – this year focussing on making us all feel hated. And let’s not forget the laudable but ungrammatical schemes for growing and eating your own food.
In more prosperous days all this might have been ok – but we are hoping that new, fitter BAP will also go embrace a financial diet.
Even if it does, the fact remains that at the bottom line, taxpayers will continue to foot the bill for all this non-essential stuff.
A look at the first two months’ figures for expenditure by Boston Borough Council that exceeds £500, shows little by way of a partnership with anyone – simply the council throwing tens of thousands of pounds at “community” projects largely being carried out in the name of other organisations.
The figures include £3,106 on “promotional items” for community safety projects.
But that’s small beer compared with a payment of £17,194 to South Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service for something to do with “health and well-being” between October and December
The “community rooms” refit blew £23,000 of government grant, and the Boston Community Showcase Partnership was handed £12,000 sponsorship for its event later in the year, which draws only about 8,000 visitors. The key mover in the event is the South Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service which records show has cash reserves of £365,997.
The total spend comes to £55,000 in just two months – for functions that are not the job of Boston Borough Council – and do not appear to be ...  because they are credited to other groups.
This is profligacy gone mad.
The council has become obsessed with issues, many of which are not its concern.
In a climate where economy and savings are now watchwords, it is not enough for a token slimming down of a local quango – it is time for concrete action to stop wasting money.

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