Will figures from the past haunt Blaenhonddan RFO ?
One of our readers has sent in an extract from the former Neath Guardian newspaper. They compare the cost of running community halls in 2009 - and it seems little has changed by way of comparison since then.
Briefly the figures were as follows:
Blaenhonddan (6 centres) £99,501 (after deducting income)
Dyffyn Clydach (1 centre) £940
Coedffrance C C (5 centres) £30,000
Blaenhonddan C C's clerk and Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) has not given any financial statements on the council's website, which was established in the latter part of 2008, to explain the cash flow or to justify the figures.
The author of the letter reminds us that the council's community charge (the precept) has just gone up by nearly 20% and the hiring of the community halls has increased by a similar amount.
The letter writer would like someone to explain what is going on. The BCC website is certainly the means to do this. It was set up to have an open and transparent council - but has never been used to inform residents how their money is being spent.
