Sheffield Star: Evidence that budget can be cut

LAST week the TaxPayers' Alliance challenged local councils across the country to make modest savings on publicity, management and pensions in order to reduce council tax.
Sadly, instead of approaching the suggestion with an open mind and doing his best to relieve the unsustainable burden of council tax, Barnsley Council's Steve Pick launched an attack on the idea that savings could be made (May 2).

I was particularly surprised to see that a large portion of his comments were copied word for word from the official national statement issued by John Ransford, Deputy Chief Executive of the Local Government Association. It seems that despite spending £1.9m on publicity last year, Barnsley council still can't come up with their own response to reports. Surely this is evidence that the publicity budget can be easily cut back?
Mark Wallace, Campaign Director, The TaxPayers' Alliance