I was shocked when after carrying out some work for the comunity centre to reduce the gas and electricity bills to discover that the County Council was creaming off part of the bills for schools and community centres.

The council has a contract which allows for schools and community centres to sign up, however the rate is set at the start of the year at an agreed rate, and then at the end of the year, the actually price is calculated and the council gets a reconcilliation or rebate.

Until I investigated this, all of this rebate was being retained by the County Council in its own coffers, in effect subsidising its own budget at the expense of County Durham’s schools and community centres. They used the excuse that this was necessary to pay for fees and charges but the reality is that these charges are pennies compared to the savings being made.

The good news however is that after I stated that this was grossly unfair and wanted to see changes to this policy, it has actually happened, and schools and commnity centres on the county council contract will now see reconcilliations estimated at £40,000 next year, although having checked the usage at one school, I personally believe that this figure will and should be considerably higher.

I will be checking next year that the correct figures are used and finding out the actual savings. It is quite amazing what goes on at County Hall, and to be honest, in so many places, choice questions are needing to be asked by opposition councillors as it appears the leading Labour group have no control over the place.