6 August (Part 4) - Checking out Bexley’s accounts
At
this time of the year residents have the right to inspect the council’s accounts and two weeks ago Nicholas Dowling told me that he had
asked to inspect them
on the following Friday. He told the council which aspects he was interested in so
that there would be no big surprises in store but it still didn’t happen. Bexley
council required another week in which to cook the books. I mean assemble the relevant
files, check them over, censor as necessary or whatever it was they had to do to make
them fit for public inspection.
So Nicholas got to see the accounts that interested him last Friday instead. It may be a
day or two before he is ready to give his verdict on whether all is well. I suspect he was
more than a little interested in whether councillor
Peter Craske’s CPZ figures
added up. They didn’t last year.
I’m rather hoping that Nicholas will be able to shed some light on whether the council’s
claim to not be spending any net money on their new HQ as the sign outside it proudly
proclaims. I have my doubts about it. We know from when the alternatives were
discussed that it wasn’t either the cheapest or the most cost effective option,
but it had the advantage of keeping their base in Bexleyheath.