"Cornwall Council is the largest unitary council and one of the largest local authorities in the country with an annual budget of more than £1.2 billion. Using credit cards is an efficient and transparent method of payment and is standard practice in both the public and private sectors. While we accept that the figure quoted in the Daily Telegraph article for credit card spending appears high, it is important to recognise that the Council's overall budget for this same three year period was over £3.5 billion.
"We have also disputed the accuracy of some of the figures quoted by the Daily Telegraph. One of the largest areas of spending highlighted in the article was for hotels and travel. Unfortunately the figures quoted in the article have not been converted from the original currencies - producing a misleadingly high figure. One example of this is a figure of £114,142 for hotel costs in India for an educational exchange involving teachers from Cornish schools. This amount was actually in Indian Rupees and would have been £1,645 in UK currency. There are similar inaccuracies in the amounts highlighted for restaurant payments - with one figure of £15,640 quoted for a restaurant in Japan during another educational exchange. This amount is in Japanese Jen and would be £118 in UK currency. We are still checking these figures but so far estimate that at least £1.3 million of the costs highlighted for overseas travel and hotels are wrong.
"Cornwall Council is committed to achieving the best possible value for money for council tax payers in Cornwall" said Council Leader Alec Robertson. "All spending, including credit card spending, is very closely monitored and strict financial controls are in place.
"However, while we are committed to being open and transparent, this incident shows the importance of analysing raw data carefully and responsibly. Unfortunately the deadline set by the newspaper meant that we were unable to check all the figures before the article was published. We are disappointed that, having told the journalist that the information was inaccurate, they did not give us the time to provide them with the accurate information."
I wonder how much time Alec thinks is reasonable. When the Daily Telegraph went to press last night it said Cornwall Council had been given an additional three days to explain the answers which the council itself had earlier provided in response to a Freedom of Information question.
The fact that the council can't tell the difference between pounds and rupees might explain the mind-boggling headline figures for some of the credit card items. It hardly inspires confidence in the council's financial controls. And we still don't know why it was necessary to spend any money at all on things like fish tanks, disco equipment or silk ties.
This story has legs.
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