Shock as £300,000 overspend called 'petty cash'

6.58.52pm GMT Wed 6th Jan 2010

County councillors were reeling at a recent meeting when a leading Tory called a £300k overspend 'petty cash' and said it was 'nit-picking' to raise it.

Malcolm Cowan, Liberal Democrat councillor for Handside and Peartree and spokesperson on Resources raised why there was an overspend on building a new fire station at Watford, particularly in the light of the recent investigation into problems at the new fire station at St Albans. Malcolm said 'I wanted to understand why 2 new fire stations should have such problems - were any lessons learnt from the first case?

'Instead of a proper answer, Cabinet member Cllr Keith Emsall told me I was nit-picking and the amount - equivalent to the cost of employing around 10 extra children's social workers for a year - was 'petty cash'. In fact the main reason for the overspend was the need to build a wider entrance to the fire station - something that really should have been foreseen at the planning stage.

Malcolm added 'It is no wonder there is a continual problem with keeping to budget at the council if this amount is seen as not even worth discussing. Clearly the Tories occupy a different world to the one I live in.'

For further information, contact Malcolm Cowan on 01707-324723