The unusual site banners are to bring attention to the fact that Labour activists in Bexley are manipulating Facebook Groups with fictional posters. They deny it, threaten police action for ‘harassing’ a fictitious character and then demonstrate their willingness to impersonate by creating a false Administrator account in my name. The banner on display is chosen randomly from a selection of three, with a fourth bearing the familiar Bexley Council is Bonkers logo.
18 February (Part 2) -
A little bit of finance
Believe it or not there was a discussion on Finance at the Finance Scrutiny meeting but only at the end after
the sessions on
Comms and Customer Experiences. (†)
Councillor Brian Bishop (Conservative, Barnehurst) asked about investment training for the Pensions Committee and found that
it is fully compliant with the regulations but none is provided for the Audit Committee.
Councillor Bishop asked if he should be worried by that but Cabinet Member David
Leaf said no because training for Members was in the pipeline.
Councillor Stefano Borella (Labour Leader, Slade Green) thought the subject of borrowing was very important
with the Council’s debt standing at £223 million, some of it with very long
maturity dates - up to 50 years - and asked if that was a normal situation for
Councils. He was told that the loan portfolio was “well constructed” and
entirely normal. There was some optimism about the Council getting its money
back from a bad £12·8 million investment in the Lothbury Property Fund once it is rescued by UBS Triton.
Councillor Leaf said that £6·2 million should come back to the Council but
that was better than if the money had simply been left in the bank.
† I have just realised that my recording of the Finance
meeting cut off after one hour and seventeen minutes. Precisely at the half way
stage. The software automatically aborts after a transmission break. Back to the drawing board!