Letter to the Editor

The following has been emailed to the Morley Observer and Advertiser, otherwise known as the 'Tiser

As a previous Member of Morley Town Council, I have observed the various goings on at the Town Hall over the last three years with a rather jaded, cynical eye. However, when the current Council published their 2009/2010 Annual report with a censored financial statement, I sat up and took notice. A balance sheet without a balance? Outrageous!

Local Governments are meant to be open and transparent- after all it is our money they are spending. They don't come cheap either- in the last six years we have been forced to pay over a Million Pounds to run our Parish. (If you don't believe we are forced, try witholding your Council Tax.)  Are we getting value for money?

It was possible to work out the redacted numbers when they published the audited accounts, a statutory obligation. However, replies to a Freedom of Information request suggest that they may possibly have potentially acted illegally in their merry financial dance to hide from us what they had really done. (This matter is ongoing with the auditors).

So, to refuse to print how much they spent last year and how much they had left is arrogance of the highest order. We hope they spend our hard earned money wisely but how can we know that if they won't tell us? The excuses used about "confidentially issues" were entirely unjustifiable.

Just to add further insult to injury, the FOI questions I raised (by email) were answered in what could best be described as an unhelpful way and will be subject to the complaints procedure. They even wasted 9p by waiting until the last possible reply date then franking the letter First Class post. I have now heard about three others who have also been treated in this way and I do not consider it acceptable to fob people off with non-answers.

Morley Town Council's actions are an insult to all precept payers of Morley and the Councillors who voted to accept the Annual Report should hang their heads in shame.