25 October - Bexley council, splashing your cash again
At
a time when record numbers of people are losing their jobs, with prices going up faster than many
people can remember and Bexley council’s parking charges up by anything between 20% and infinity
(24/7 charges introduced), we can at least rest assured that their top brass are continuing to enjoy
their little luxuries. It may not be councillor Campbell’s idea of luxury if he had to put up with a
candlewick bedspread like he did last year, but most people wouldn't
complain about a freebie or subsidised weekend at the Flackley Ash Hotel. Yes,
it seems from reports that they have done it again. Bexley’s golden boys, and I
assume the cabinet too, have taken themselves off for another little beano to
the Flackley Ash.
Last year Bexley council misled the local press about the date of their visit
and claimed they had paid for it out of their own pockets. Enquiries revealed
that at best cabinet members paid for only two thirds of the bill and then
claimed it back again via their £90.25 a night subsistence allowance.
They refused to give a simple truthful statement about the need for council
business to be conducted in plush surroundings and the truth of the matter was
still being prised out of them as recently as last July; nine months after their
little bit of indulgence at tax payers’ expense. Now it seems they have done it
all over again.
Previous blogs on last year’s Flackley Ash Hotel trip…
• 23 March 2011 - Press round up
• 11 April 2011 - ‘ello, ‘ello, ‘ello. What’s goin’ on ‘ere then?
• 16 April 2011 - Too generous by far
• 2 May 2011 - Flak over Flackley
• 5 July 2011 - Flackley Ash Hotel - So good they went there twice
• 24 July 2011 - Flackley Ash - The truth at last