{"id":619316,"date":"2025-12-08T04:25:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T04:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/619316\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T04:25:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T04:25:30","slug":"salford-council-should-tell-us-what-theyre-spending-its-our-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/619316\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Salford council should tell us what they’re spending, it’s our money’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Residents are demanding the council shares how it spends public money using purchase cards.\"JohnJohn Drinkwater said the council should be open about its spending (Image: Declan Carey)<\/p>\n

People in Salford have urged the council to \u2018come clean\u2019 over how much public money it is spending using purchase cards, with claims that \u2018trust is broken\u2019 in the town hall after it refused to reveal the full picture.<\/p>\n

It comes after the Manchester Evening News (M.E.N) reported that thousands of pounds have been spent<\/a> by some senior elected members at the Labour-led council on taxis and hotels using purchase cards, instead of recording the payments as expenses where the spending is published online.<\/p>\n

It has sparked a row over transparency, with a Conservative opposition councillor demanding \u2018clear, accessible information about how local tax-payers\u2019 money is spent.\u2019<\/p>\n

Salford<\/a> council denied claims that it is not being transparent, and said it \u2018strives to be as transparent as possible on all financial monitoring, with open reporting and scrutiny of budgets.\u2019<\/p>\n

Residents in the city demanded to know how much public money is being spent by elected officials using purchase cards, and what it is being used for.<\/p>\n

Outside Salford council\u2019s offices in Swinton<\/a>, Jack Cox, 26, said: \u201cToo right they should be open about what they spend, it’s common sense. They should release the figures each year so it’s transparent, at the end of the day it’s our money. I think the trust people had in the council is already broken, our council tax goes up all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JackJack Cox said trust is being damaged (Image: Declan Carey)<\/p>\n

John Drinkwater, 68, added: \u201cThey should make it all open, but governments and councils only share what they want because they don\u2019t want us to know [what they\u2019re spending]. So anything like this does affect public trust because it’s our council tax and we\u2019ve had austerity for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further up the road, Jonathan Prime, 34, said: \u201cThey definitely should be more open, we should know what our money is going on. No one really trusts the council when stuff like this happens, they should come clean about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Salford council publishes headline figures for expense allowances paid to councillors and City Mayor Paul Dennett each year, purchase card spending is not published publicly in the same way.<\/p>\n

Mr Dennett\u2019s expenses for \u2018travel, subsistence and other\u2019 costs have been recorded as \u00a30 for most years since he became Salford Mayor in 2016, but the council said his office has spent more than \u00a314,000 in the last two years using the purchase cards.<\/p>\n

Cards used by the City Mayor\u2019s office can also be used by Salford\u2019s deputy mayors, the council said. The purchase card spending figures from 2023 were published on the council\u2019s website after the M.E.N got in touch. But Salford council has so far refused to share the data going any further back than the last two years.<\/p>\n

The council said on its website that using purchase cards can help to \u2018reduce paperwork and administration\u2019 when making bulk purchases. It said in a previous statement that it complies with its legal obligation to publish allowances paid to councillors at the end of each year, and that questions over purchase card spending have been referred to its audit and accounts committee.<\/p>\n

But in Pendleton, people were concerned about why the council would not say how much public money has been spent by elected officials using purchase cards in previous years. \u201cEveryone who\u2019s serving the public should be transparent with where the money goes, but I think people are getting quite complacent with being shafted by the people who can control things,\u201d said 35-year-old Helen Clarke.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cIn a cost-of-living crisis where people are working to the bone and paying their taxes, it\u2019s important [to be transparent], especially at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HelenHelen Clarke said those in public office should be as transparent as possible with how money is spent (Image: Declan Carey)<\/p>\n

Scott Johnson, 39, said: \u201cIt\u2019s about transparency, and if they can\u2019t be transparent what are they hiding? If it\u2019s \u00a314,000 now and it goes much further back, then people must be able to see it. They should let people know, it\u2019s our money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative Councillor Adam Kealey, chair of the audit and accounts committee at Salford council, told the MEN: \u201cThe public has a right to clear, accessible information about how local tax-payers\u2019 money is spent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Salford council publishes some headline figures, it does not currently provide enough detail on the types of spending made using council-issued credit or procurement cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreater clarity on the categories and purposes of this spending would strengthen public trust and allow residents to understand how funds are being used. I am calling for Salford to adopt a more transparent approach that makes this information easier to access, interpret and scrutinise, such as those already put in place by other councils.<\/p>\n

\u201cImproving the visibility of this type of spending is a simple, practical step that would meaningfully enhance accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Salford council said<\/strong>\"SalfordSalford council refused to accept claims that it is not being transparent (Image: Declan Carey)<\/p>\n

Salford Mayor Paul Dennett defended the use of purchase cards, saying they are used by other political groups and not just Labour<\/a>, and that he and his deputies attended more than 2,000 meetings last year.<\/p>\n

In a statement to the M.E.N Mr Dennett said: \u201cSince being elected as City Mayor, I have also been to Westminster and Whitehall with the official leader of the opposition and officers to lobby on local government financing, in light of having \u00a3245m cut from the council\u2019s revenue budget since 2010\/11.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur work is delivering for people in Salford. In the past year, a state-of-the-art youth zone has opened with more than 5,000 young people already registered as members, the council\u2019s housing company itself has built hundreds of new affordable homes, successful lobbying has secured multi-million-pound investment from Homes England and other institutions into affordable new social housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all of this work can take place in the Civic Centre. Where travel or accommodation is needed to support this work, purchasing cards help to secure efficiencies and savings to keep costs low. This is in keeping with the stated use of purchasing cards in the council\u2019s constitution, to support council business in an efficient way.”<\/p>\n

\"SalfordSalford Mayor Paul Dennett has spoken out about the issue (Image: Anthony Moss \/ MEN)<\/p>\n

A Salford council spokesman said: \u201cA small number of purchasing cards are used across the authority for low-value card purchases, in-line with transparent rules that are set out in the council\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransactions are reconciled in line with financial regulations and controls. Purchasing cards are used as an efficient means of ordering and paying for goods and services where their use can reduce procurement costs and deliver goods and services more quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is against the context of the council managing \u00a3392m of public money in delivering more than 700 services to residents young and old across the city this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work of the City Mayor, wider executive and whole council has resulted in significant investment into the city. The council\u2019s use of procurement cards supports the efficient and effective conduct of council business.<\/p>\n

\u201cCouncil budgets are subject to strict and stringent financial controls and are externally audited. We strive to be as transparent as possible on all financial monitoring, with open reporting and scrutiny of budgets. Coun Kealey, as chair of the [audit and accounts] committee, was presented with an initial itemised breakdown of purchase card spend in June, and a more comprehensive list on 20 November.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not therefore accept the council is not transparent.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents are demanding the council shares how it spends public money using purchase cards.John Drinkwater said the council…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,1290,27605,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-619316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-salford","13":"tag-salford-council","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115682052191323812","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}