AT LAST some Labour ministers have finally realised that millions of pounds of taxpayers money is being spent by just about every local council on “party political propaganda” and “bloated” press offices.

Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw recently launched a scathing attack on local authority newspapers such as South Tyneside Council’s On View which he branded “completely one-sided” and said risked killing off local newspapers such as the Journal and Chronicle, which play a key part in a “healthy democracy”.

And, at a time when public spending is under severe strain in both national and local government, the Exeter MP said it was time to cut back on the army of spin doctors and public relations officers working for councils and the South Tyneside Independents couldn’t agree more.

Of course the Conservatives have blamed Labour for the rise in publicity costs in council budgets, which have doubled since 1997. Yet many of us can remember that it was the Consevatives that first introduced the idea of ‘spin doctors’ with the appointment of unelected advisers to the then Conservative government and let’s not forget the role that Saatchi and Saatchi played during the Thatcher years!

The debate about council propoganda comes as the councils’ watchdog, the Audit Commission, carries out an investigation into the way local authorities spend money publicising their work.

It follows the Government’s Digital Britain report which warned it would be “against the public interest” for local papers to be left financially unviable by paid-for advertising switching to council-run publications. Mr Bradshaw said council leaders should “look very hard” at their PR operations to cut costs.

He warned there was “increasing evidence” of the “very serious impact on local newspapers from the growth in local authority propaganda sheets”.

Mr Bradshaw said independent local newspapers were “a vital part of our healthy democracy”.

“There is no one else to challenge decisions made by local councils,” he said, condemning the idea of allowing the media landscape to be “dominated by local authority free sheets which are completely one-sided and uncritical of what those councils are doing”.

An Independent Alliance administration will carry out a comprehensive review of the council’s communication strategy to ensure that it is delivering what the residents of South Tyneside want. We will also assess whether or not there is a need for both a press office and communications department, and determine whether or not they offer the people of South Tyneside value for money.

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