Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman‘s private office of spinners and consultants on subjects ranging from “branding” through to the media, communications and development, continues to grow and grow.
Cllr David Snowdon (Millwall) has uncovered evidence that the Tower Hamlets Mayor is rapidly moving towards spending half a million pounds a year on his advisors, who often duplicate work already done within the council.
Cllr Snowdon said: “This is simply outrageous. Rahman now has 21 staff in his private office. One contractor has a pay rate of £1,000 per day, and every time I look at East End Life Rahman seems to be advertising for another ‘consultant’. What do they all do every day?”
“If the Mayor cut back on his personal staff, and hadn’t commissioned himself a brand new office at the cost of £150,000 he would have been able to provide a much better service to the long suffering residents of Tower Hamlets”.
“In the Mayor’s budget this year he cut £200,000 from the library book budget and decided to rake in £150,000 a year by charging residents for the previously free service of collecting old beds and wardrobes. Both of these charges would have been avoidable.”
Cllr Tim Archer (Blackwall & Cubitt Town) added “The Town Hall administration is playing fast and loose with our council tax money. Mayor Rahman needs to bring these vanity projects to a swift end. Big cars and big offices cut no ice with the residents of our Borough. What Tower Hamlets residents want is a mayor who knows the value of money”.