Dorset County Council newspaper accused of bias (From Dorset Echo)

Dorset County Council newspaper accused of bias

10:20am Saturday 9th May 2009 in

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A DORSET County Council newspaper delivered to 200,000 residents has been slammed as ‘biased’ and a waste of money.

The 16-page newspaper Your Dorset was delivered to county taxpayers last week, just a month before the county council elections on June 4.

MP Annette Brooke and county councillor Susan Jefferies have called for an investigation on the grounds that the county council has been using public money to produce biased election propaganda.

The law states that councils must not publish any material that appears to affect support for a political party in the four weeks before an election. Liberal Democrat MP Annette Brooke said: “Influencing the result of an election through public funds is in direct contravention of the law and clear statutory guidance.

“It’s a shameful waste of tax payers’ money and in contempt of the democratic process.

“As a consequence, I am calling for this matter to be fully investigated and any appropriate action to be taken.”

County councillor Susan Jefferies said she was ‘shocked’ that public money is being used to influence the outcome of elections and criticised the council’s PR department, which she said spent more than £450,000 a year on publicity.

Dorset County Council’s chief executive David Jenkins denied the claims and said a legal team have confirmed the community paper does not breach electoral rules.

He confirmed the council had received complaints from MP Annette Brooke and two other members of the county council claiming that laws on local government publicity and elections had been breached.

He said: “Receiving the complaints I discussed them with the council’s monitoring officer Elaine Taylor who advises on the legality of the council’s affairs.

“I asked her to take advice from an independent QC who specialises in electoral law.

“The QC has advised that he does not consider that any electoral law or rules about local government publicity have been breached and that Your Dorset does not appear to be designed to affect public support for a political party.

“I am pleased to have this independent confirmation.”

Pensioner Bill Woodhouse, 76, of Mappowder, has called for the newspaper to stop, describing it as an ‘ego trip for council leader Angus Campbell and his friends’.

He said: “I think it’s an absolute waste of time.

“As one who is contributing more money than I can afford towards council tax I feel justified in suggesting that these various publications should cease.”

Independent county councillor Les Ames said he thought the newspaper was well-balanced but suggested that all Dorset councils could cut costs and duplication by printing one newspaper for all the authorities.

Sue Hyde, the county council’s head of communications, said: “We always follow the national guidance on local government publicity and are particularly careful about what we publish during the pre-election period.

“We know that other councils are also publishing their newspapers during this period.”