Would hate to be accused of being biased on any subject I write about. I am always willing to clarify any point on this blog. An hour or so ago the Leader of Cornwall Council issued a statement on points of where the money has been spent on the debit/credit cards.

The Council currently has 509 cards (of which 154 are allocated to schools) and there are very strict financial (their words) controls in place to regulate their use. Individual cards have a maximum limit on them which depends on the seniority of the individual member of staff. This is normally around £1,000. All payments are checked and countersigned.

The following statements are the Leaders words – I would also like to provide the facts behind some of the specific items which have been highlighted over the past few days.

Silk ties – - this payment relates to the purchase of 100 Cornwall Council ties which Councillors are now being invited to buy. They were designed and produced by a local company in Cornwall.

£1,080 – to the One Eyed Cat restaurant – this relates to a dinner (not a lunch) to mark the formal launch of the Unicreds project. This is a €2 million project looking at how different models of higher education can benefit regional economic development. It is a three year project funded by the EU involving partners from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Sweden and the UK. The cost of the meal, which was attended by 43 people, including representatives of all the project partners, was paid for by the Unicreds project and not by Cornwall Council.

£1,080 –to the Rick Stein Sea Food restaurant – this payment does not relate to a meal at the restaurant. It is part of the Future Job Fund project which is a Department for Work and Pensions European funded project to provide jobs for people in Cornwall. The Council makes payments to each partner based on the number of jobs they deliver and then reclaims 100% of these payments back from the Department for Work and Pensions

£3,000 for phone charges – this payment is the monthly mobile phone cost for 265 mobiles for the Cornwall Fire and Rescue service. These mobiles cover the entire Service including: the crews for 65 fire appliances, , the officers in workshops (mechanics etc), Training Dept, Emergency Management Team, All Mobile Officers, all Station Managers and Senior Managers. This works out at approximately £11 per phone.

Fish tank – this payment relates to a fish tank which was brought for one of our children’s centres. The use of such equipment to help engage with young children, particularly children with complex needs, is recognised as good practice and is often used in hospitals and GP surgeries.

Computers/ hi fi and musical instruments – the items were purchased for use by schools, children’s homes and respite centres and the youth service.
(end)

The point on One-eyed-cat and Seafood Restaurant is interesting as listed in the accounts online it is money spent. At least now (we hope) we know these two restaurants bills can be explained. What about all the other ones listed? Are they all paid by others and not Cornwall Council?

A lot of spending on travel is from schools and I thought this would be the case as the coding was marked as SCH. Saying that, there are still many that are not coded to schools. Are these all value for money, and essential?

As for the fish tank, wii, computers and entertainment systems no one will complain if there is a genuine reason like being used in Children’s Centres or children’s homes. In fact, children’s homes should be kitted out like this if it makes the children’s stay at these places more bearable.

The real damage has been on the reputation of the Council. Many of these stories could have been handled much better or even killed off. A lesson to be learn from this is how we as a Council put out information, especially on our own web-site. You can hardly expect much sympathy if the details put out are wrong.

The outrage over the spending on corporate credit cards shows no sign of being swiped away. The sheer scale of it has astounded many. The Council has released a short press statement that is nothing more than a holding exercise. The publication of the details probably came at the worst time with a Bank Holiday and half-term leaving many key in the know people away.

In response to the details in the Telegraph I sent an email with various questions to the Head of Corporate Resources. I am grateful for his quick reply to those questions. I got the clarification on the types of cards in use, and if any interest is paid. The cards in use are not Credit Card but a Payment Card (technically a deferred debit card). These are organised through the Office of Gov’t Commerce arrangements and more importantly, there are no interest payments.

Cornwall Council’s stance is to encourage the use of the Debit Card (procurement card in Council speak) for low value transactions because it is a very efficient payment and processing methodology. Suppliers like it because it is fast. Cornwall Council like it because the transaction costs are negligible (supplier pays) and transactions are processed into our systems electronically. This roughly saves around £33 per transaction in processing cost.

The topic of Silk Ties is one that has made most headlines, and this issue has also been clarified. Even though I am not a tie wearer these ties are in fact Cornwall Council Ties; which are available to purchase by Councillors. So it seems apart from the initial outlay there should be no long term cost to the taxpayer.

Not all my questions have been asked, but they will be as they just needed further details (ledger codes) before I will get those answers. I have also been told that further details will be available at Thursdays Corporate Resources Scrutiny Committee.

This whole episode has further harmed the reputation of the Council, even though many of the areas of spending do have a reasonable answer. As I said before, it is the restaurant bill and excessive travel spending that is my greatest area of concern.

Stay tuned for the next instalment of Cardgate

Since this morning I have been going though the figures to make sure these figures are not made up. The more I studied it soon came apparent of the sheer scale of spending. I was, and still am, dumbstruck. Granted a lot of the spending I can understand as it is normal council business. I do wonder why we pay South West Water by credit card. They are not the only utility service that is paid this way, so this must be standard practice.

I could go on, and list many other things, but if you’re like me it will just make you angry. I am reminded of the old advert for the Access credit cards – Your flexible friend. That saying sure has meaning at Cornwall Council.

The other point to note is all these details are only for spending OVER £500. Just imagine what was spent under this threshold.