Never really understood the idea of corporate PR in local government. It is not as if a Council can attract more customers. Much of it must be down to the vanity of the political leadership but ultimately it is a lipstick on a pig situation.
All local authorities face the same basic problem. They have essentially a fixed income stream from Council Tax and Government grants with a cost base which is constantly rising particularly for salaries. The only way to cut the salary bill is to cut head count and, at some point that has to have an impact on services. This leaves local authorities with little other option to raise revenue from fines, fees and charges which it is hard to avoid doing in a way that doesn't alienate residents. This is particularly the case as this is a very regressive way of raising funds so tends to hit the less well off the hardest. So eventually a large proportion of the population develops a grudge against the Council and they won't revise their view just because of a well-crafted mission statement. This isn't an Ealing specific problem - it is happening across the country. |