Back in 2012 (see 'More Cut and Paste spin') I noticed that quotes in council press releases attributed to Executive Board members are usually just stock responses cut and pasted from similar articles.
These often find their way into the local press so when a press release states 'Executive Board Member , Meryl/Pam/Jim etc "said" something, they didn't actually 'say' anything. During the election purdah these 'quotes' disappeared from press releases, and I don't think the county suffered as a result...
It's not a big deal perhaps, and possibly noticed only by the occasional blogger who reads this stuff, but as I said in 2012, it can give the impression that the councillor is a lot more 'engaged' and cares a lot more about the subject than they actually do.
Anyway, the practice continues and has moved, surprisingly seamlessly from one political administration to another, albeit with Meryl's Indies as the unfortunate constant.
One of the regular naming and shaming press releases features residents who have fallen foul of the housing benefit rules in the magistrates court.
Back in January, Labour Executive Board Member for Resources Jeff Edmunds 'said' “The county council wants people who are entitled to Housing Benefit to claim what they are rightfully entitled to.
"However, we are also determined to crack down on fraudulent claims. These offences take money from the public purse that could otherwise be used for funding essential services.”
Today, Plaid Cymru Executive Board member for Resources Cllr David Jenkins 'said': “The county council wants people who are entitled to Housing Benefit to claim what they are rightfully entitled to.
“However, we are also determined to crack down on fraudulent claims. These offences take money from the public purse that could otherwise be used for funding essential services.”
A couple of points; If the new Plaid led coalition want to distinguish itself from the last one, attending to these little details may help...I'm not expecting them to take a different view, a new 'quote' would do...
My second point is in respect of the 'fraudulent claims' quotes, could they be reworded? At the moment, the second part could so easily apply to the Chief Executive and the unlawful payment scandals, which, it must be said, involved a lot more cash.
These often find their way into the local press so when a press release states 'Executive Board Member , Meryl/Pam/Jim etc "said" something, they didn't actually 'say' anything. During the election purdah these 'quotes' disappeared from press releases, and I don't think the county suffered as a result...
Anyway, the practice continues and has moved, surprisingly seamlessly from one political administration to another, albeit with Meryl's Indies as the unfortunate constant.
One of the regular naming and shaming press releases features residents who have fallen foul of the housing benefit rules in the magistrates court.
Back in January, Labour Executive Board Member for Resources Jeff Edmunds 'said' “The county council wants people who are entitled to Housing Benefit to claim what they are rightfully entitled to.
"However, we are also determined to crack down on fraudulent claims. These offences take money from the public purse that could otherwise be used for funding essential services.”
Today, Plaid Cymru Executive Board member for Resources Cllr David Jenkins 'said': “The county council wants people who are entitled to Housing Benefit to claim what they are rightfully entitled to.
“However, we are also determined to crack down on fraudulent claims. These offences take money from the public purse that could otherwise be used for funding essential services.”
A couple of points; If the new Plaid led coalition want to distinguish itself from the last one, attending to these little details may help...I'm not expecting them to take a different view, a new 'quote' would do...
My second point is in respect of the 'fraudulent claims' quotes, could they be reworded? At the moment, the second part could so easily apply to the Chief Executive and the unlawful payment scandals, which, it must be said, involved a lot more cash.
3 comments:
Oh dear. Doesn't instil confidence when they don't even think or speak for themselves. It's the level of the classroom, where a pupil has to copy from his friends exam papers because he doesn't have his own answers.
At least it proves they're not making it up as they're going along...
Does this mean that there is a library of quotes for each executive board position and they are selected as required? Perhaps Cllr Dai Jenkins should check against previous Exec Member for Resources material before approving the quotes written for him? Or is he even involved? Maybe Jeff Edmunds his predecessor also had his words selected for him from the CCC lexicon of senior councilor public utterances? Or is there a wider conspiracy we would discover if we cross referenced all local government politicians official press releases? No wonder people think all politicians sound the same!!
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