BARRY O'Connell seems to think the local paper is the best place to ask questions of the council, regarding DisabledGo funding.

I did indeed meet this gentleman a few years ago and, since that day, I have not spoken with him nor received any correspondence from him. His ally, Cllr Alldis, has also been silent on the subject until her question to full council last month. I gave an honest anwer.

Briefly, it was: a one-off sum of £45,000 to be paid over three years was agreed by the former administration, at the request of the Labour group, to part fund, with M&S, the DisabledGo website.

At no point in the last 2½years, while in charge of the finance portfolio, has Cllr Alldis or Mr O'Connell, or anybody else for that matter, approached me to ask for further funding past this three-year term.

Nor, has it been raised as an issue in the the budget-setting process, or the budget consultation carried out every year since.

Surely Mr O'Cconnell should be asking why the Labour group didn't make annual funding available in the revenue budget, if that was the actual requirement.

Having visited the website before writing this letter, the one question I will be asking is how was our £45,000 spent because it is not evident on the website and, as such, I will be requesting an audit so I can reassure both the council and the residents that their money has been spent wisely and appropriately, and all expenditure is available for public scrutiny.

I will take this opportunity to point out that, as the councillor responsible for finance, it is me and my financially diligent cabinet colleagues that are charged with the task of finding £4.4 million worth of savings to balance our council budget.

While inundated with ideas from the Labour group on how to spend money, I am in receipt of none to save any.

Cllr Peter Halliday
Cabinet member for finance
Tendring Council