Would you are feeling the standing of your borough have been diminished in case your mayor arrived at an occasion in a Vauxhall Corsa?
That’s the argument reportedly put ahead by Dudley Borough councillor Adam Aston, who’s opposing the choice to dump its official mayoral automotive and accompanying attendant – a transfer that may put it aside £60,000 a yr.
Native paper Dudley Information has reported that the council has to save lots of fairly greater than that. Hundreds of thousands, actually, if it’s to keep away from declaring itself successfully bankrupt, like Birmingham Metropolis Council just lately did.
And if this ends in Dudley’s mayor, at present Hilary Payments (who declined to remark), having to take herself to appointments, so be it.
This does inevitably imply there shall be much less pomp to accompany a Dudley mayoral arrival sooner or later, maybe because the mayor parks across the nook and trudges down a multi-storey’s stairwell, patting their pockets to make sure they’ve remembered their keys and people gold chains (which, additionally as a part of the financial savings drive, may very well be replicas), fairly than being dropped off kerbside in a pleasant automotive.
I get that this may very well be much less optimum. Most likely much less handy too. However whereas I’m normally contented to see a little bit little bit of public cash spent on ceremonial nonsense (it’s one of many issues the world likes about Britain, in any case), I discover it exhausting to objectively fault the council’s resolution on this.
Within the three years as much as 2022, Dudley Council spent £30,168 operating a mayoral Jaguar XF – greater than most boroughs however on no account the very best.
Loads of councils reported having Jaguar XJs, Volvo S80s, Skoda Superbs and the like (even a Volkswagen Phaeton) completely on their books, with leasing or buy prices of as much as £10,000 a yr.
When you haven’t bought any cash however the bins want emptying and the aged want taking care of, what are you going to do: cancel after-school golf equipment to make it tougher for fogeys to go to work or flog the mayoral Lexus?
Certain, it will be good to have each, wouldn’t it? Plenty of assist for individuals who want it, plus a little bit of ceremonial extravagance on the aspect, as you’d assume could be attainable on this planet’s fifth-richest nation.
However apparently there’s no cash, as councils everywhere in the nation have spent all that they’ve, plus some extra that they haven’t, a few of which has gone on status automobiles. Realising that isn’t an excellent look, a lot have already determined to place a cease on it.
