Public explanation required over Council's extra £20,000 for books

Following the decision of the Conservative Portfolio Holder for Finance to spend an additional £20,000 on legal books from the Council's general contingency fund on top of the allocated budget, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats have attacked the lack of an explanation as to why the funds were required.

Commenting on the issue, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Wootton and Stewartby Judith Cunningham said: "The contingency fund is supposed to be used for emergencies, like if we had flooding in Bedford. There is only £24,900 in the fund and now they are going to spend £20,000 of it on legal books. Why on earth didn't the legal department plan ahead and budget for this? Didn't they know that they would need to be up-to-date?"

Referring to the sparse explanation given in the published decision papers, Cllr Cunningham continued: "There is very little information. From what the report says, it could be anything. There is also no mention of whether any of these materials could be got from the county council, which is being abolished early next year, or whether there are books which will not be used by South Beds and Mid Beds District Councils when they are merged into one unitary authority next year.'

"It makes me very, very cross. This is £20,000 of taxpayers' money, during a credit crunch. We should at least know what it is being spent on. By giving no real explanation of the decision the Council shows a blatant disregard to councillors and, more importantly, local residents. They have a right to know whether their money is being spent wisely."