Council 'wasted' cash on pictures

8:00am Monday 18th February 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Cadisha Brown

WYRE Forest District Council has “wasted” thousands of pounds on royal portraits, picture frames and plants for its new headquarters, it has been claimed.

Figures have revealed the authority forked out almost £6,000 on the items for the £10 million Finepoint Way building, which opened in October.

A total of £3,475 was spent on a picture hanging system, while £853 went on three kentia palm plants.

The district council also forked out £372 to reframe 31 photos of past council chairmen and £588 for a plaque for the official opening.

Royal portraits of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were also purchased for a total of £437.

The figures were revealed after a Freedom of Information request submitted by a resident was handed to Labour district councillor Adrian Sewell, who said he was shocked by the amount spent.

Stephen Clee, chairman of the district council, said the money was funded from the authority’s capital reserves and not from council tax.

Mr Sewell said: “Obviously it shows excess of spending in these difficult times when they are asking people to cut their cloth and reduce spending.

“In these times money should be better spent elsewhere. It’s bad planning – it’s a waste of money.”

Mr Clee added: “As part of the relocation to Wyre Forest House, the opportunity was taken to re-display the photographs of past chairmen of the council.

“This involved reframing the pictures and displaying them using a new metal hanging system which is in keeping with the new civic building and will last many years.

“To mark the official opening of Wyre Forest House, a glass plaque was installed and to mark the Diamond Jubilee, the foyer also displays portrait photos of HM the Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.”

Comments(15)

Cynical Sid says...
11:46am Mon 18 Feb 13

Idiots at the helm ...run folks ...quick

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jon cooper says...
12:30pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Have the cross party members of WFDC ever wondered why their government funding has been drastically reduced this financial year ? Perhaps just like Councillor Sewell and the many constituents of the district; Eric Pickles MP can also see the sort of wayward and irresopnsible spending culture that WFDC tend to take on board. We residents will never know for sure, but it makes one wonder how affluent WFDC as a local authority really is.

'Wyre Forest House' has always been, and will probably always be a most controversial building ... £10.5million+ to create; £500,000 just to furnish the building, (whilst abandoned council properties STILL lie empty, and are STILL fully furnished); and now £6,000 on quite unnessecary luxurious trinkets to dot around its interior. With cuts being impilmented onto Wyre Forest residents with regards to our frontline services, (ie leisure centres), this latest revelation is yet another slap in the face from a governing body that is supposedly representing the better needs of everyone.

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chrisdingdong says...
3:20pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Oh yes, yet again Public Sector waste money on stupid pictures. While I'm on the subject what have Palm trees got to do with the UK or even the Wyre Forest?

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stour67 says...
5:11pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Have they got heat pump working yet as they seem to be using portable heaters.So maybe they should sort that out first instead of wasting money on pictures only they can see.

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comberton hill questions says...
8:06pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Just a question but as most council buildings have pictures of the queen etc did we not have a picture before we could have brought from the old building? Just wondered.

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kidderlord says...
8:07am Tue 19 Feb 13

Right as you all know I am very anti Tory, espec Campion, Clee Hart et all
however, this will surprise you. I never supported the building of a ten million plus new home for the District Council and still don't. However, the decision was made, it has been built and it is the head office of our DC. As such it will welcome important people from all over the world possibly. What sort of reflection on our District woukd it make to have shabby pictures and an unwelcoming lobby. If you built a brand new home, woulkd you hang shabby curtains and pictures that were 30 years old. It is only right that having built the offices - wrong in thge first place- that it is made to look welcoming and professional for visitors. Would you buy a meal in a pub if you walked through the door and it looked shabby- so why would people invest in the District if the offices looked shabby.

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DOEPUBLIC says...
8:19am Tue 19 Feb 13

The real question is 'How much was spent furnishing John Campion office and when will we see a photo of it? '

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kidderlord says...
1:09pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Well firstly it is THE LEADERS office not JC personally and will be used by future leaders as well as him, so the same goes as before. Whatever it cost to making it somewhere good enough for important meetings with visitors then so be it. We didn't want it, we have got it, so let it be right.

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Jon D says...
5:39pm Tue 19 Feb 13

I agree with you on this one Kidderlord. I think some people would only be happy if it was decorated with a second hand picture of the Haywain from a charity shop costing 50p. £6000 is nothing in the scheme of things. I'm a bit disapointed Clr Sewell has been small minded here, there are better things to attack the Tories on.

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jon cooper says...
7:00pm Tue 19 Feb 13

I must say it's nice to see that the courageous 'Anti Tory' brigade who hide behind their own creation of 'multi-personalities
' in order to pat themselves on the back haven't disappeared from the Shuttle pages completely. It would be a very dour world indeed without the likes of these 'brave' and 'upfront' commentators ... (Step forward 'Gobby Robby' ;-)

Luckily i think that on this occasion Councillor Sewell speaks for the majority of people who have already seen millions of pounds thrown at 'Wyre Forest House' - a building that very few of us will ever have the benefit of using, or even entering.

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Jon D says...
8:11pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Lol! You think i'm 'trolling' as 'Kidderlord' simply because I agreed with him? How big is your memory Jon? I think you may be suffering from a little internet paranoia :-) You can't go round calling people trolls just because they happen to have a different view to your own/majority. I have differed with Kidderlord probably more than i've agreed with him, haven't you read the comments on 'Disabled Man Could Lose Home'?

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jon cooper says...
9:16pm Tue 19 Feb 13

I don't recall calling anyone a troll ? But i do recall saying there are certainly a FEW brave souls out there who comment under the guise of 'multi-persona's' in order to get their point across. No internet paranoia involved there when it's the truth. It's funny what one can find out from their own armchair ;-)

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Europeanist64 says...
10:25pm Tue 19 Feb 13

This beggars belief. WFDC should have been wound up a few years ago, and a single-tier unitary authority established for Worcestershire or North Worcestershire. WFDC delivers so few services now, and has too many councillors who are raking huge allowances for small scale operations. Over the years it has been a gravy train for some and a trough for others. I think I will ask the lovely Mr. Pickles' department to investigate this possibility.

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DOEPUBLIC says...
12:52am Wed 20 Feb 13

How ever you describe it, a photo and description would surely be of public interest? Or is it to remain exclusive ?

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FranOb says...
3:12pm Wed 20 Feb 13

A Unitary Authority without a Kidderminster Town Council would make the town a real loser. With a Town Council it might be a possibility BUT Unitaries meet in the daytime which would rule out many working Councillors!

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