Skidder Shorts #4 - The Art of Spin

The Art of Spin Revisited!

Sandwell Council recently trumpeted expenditure of £500,000 on new LED lanterns for the street lighting in the Borough - presumably so that people could better see the all-pervading dog-turds strewing the streets. The press release was duly trotted out by the local media without question (even though SMBC keeps claiming to be hard-up).

Of course, this is all taxpayer money but, hey, it's environmental (?), will save power (?) etc etc. Doesn't sound too bad does it?

But what is this in the "Street Scene" capital budget 2013/14 -"Street Lighting LED replacement - £371,000 - "prudential" borrowing! Strangely there was no mention of this in the press release nor in comments from councillors. And so, like much else in Cooper's Wongaland, it is not "tax and spend" but "borrow and spend".

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