Following the story on Friday about ERYC spending £3.2m a year on communications I reached out to our local councillors for comment.

Speaking on behalf of the three Pocklington Provincial Ward Councillors Andrew Cousins said:

“We firmly believe in the ethos of strong communications and understand the broad range of services and activities delivered by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the importance of keeping people informed. However, spending around 1.5% of the total annual budget on communications seems difficult to justify in these uncertain times. We have asked the Portfolio holder for an urgent response to your report, with reasoning why this is offering value to our residents. The Council has had no option but to raise Council Tax to cover all the essential services. This is due to central Government opting to underfund Local Authorities to avoid raising general taxation above the current record levels.”

Wolds Weighton Councillor and cabinet member Leo Hammond said:

“The Cabinet will be reviewing this and all other budgets as part of our First Council Budget which will be presented to Full Council in February in line with the Councils Constitution.
We are determined to ensure that all council services are working as efficiently as possible without reducing the quality of Service.
The Leader has identified Communications as one of her main priority areas and wants the Council to be communicating effectively with residents and partner agencies across all services.”