AMBER VALLEY MP, Nigel Mills, has said it is “beyond belief” that a Labour-led local authority spent over £150k on a London-based PR consultancy in a single year.
Derbyshire County Council paid ‘The Campaign Company’ – which was founded by a former Assistant General Secretary of the Labour Party - £153,510 for thirteen months work over 2013-2014.
The details of the spend, from a Freedom of Information request, shows the six-figure sum was paid to the PR firm over the last year to undertake ‘two projects’ which included:
- Running Focus Groups
- Advising Cabinet Members on Public Relations
- Devising a new Communications Strategy for Derbyshire County Council
The FOI also reveals that the Croydon-located firm plans to offer further training to councillors in September made up of ‘four half-day training sessions.’
Nigel Mills said: “It is beyond belief that Derbyshire County Council has spent over £150,000k on spin doctors brought up to Derbyshire from South London.
“The most disgraceful part is the council pleads poverty and publically threatens vulnerable people with service cuts whilst wasting resources on consultant fees.
“It is nothing new however; you only have to look at the £219,000 Labour forked out as a ‘Golden Goodbye’ to get rid of the authority’s Chief Executive.
“This once again shows Labour cannot be trusted with people’s hard earned money and only the Conservatives have the long-term economic plan to create a more secure and brighter future for the people of Derbyshire.”