Three senior Labour councillors – including the current Mayor of Kirklees and a Cabinet member – have been rapped for sending out political letters at council taxpayers’ expense.
Mayor Clr Paul Kane and Dewsbury East colleagues Cathy Scott and Eric Firth posted letters through Kirklees Council’s mailing system.
In the run-up to May’s local elections, Tory candidate Mark Eastwood wrote to residents with £15 parking permits warning them that the cost of parking outside their homes could soar under the Labour-run council.
The three Labour councillors immediately hit back with a letter of their own but used council letterheads and sent them through the council’s postage service.
Councillors are banned from using council resources for political purposes and Mr Eastwood complained to chief executive Adrian Lythgo.
Mr Eastwood, deputy chairman of Dewsbury County Conservative Association, said it was wrong that councillors should use Kirklees letterheads and taxpayers’ money for political purposes.
He said all three were long-serving councillors – Clr Kane is the current mayor, Clr Firth is a former mayor and Clr Scott is Cabinet portfolio holder for housing and the relief of poverty – and added: “You’d think the mayor, a former mayor and a Cabinet member would know the rules but, as this incident shows, they clearly think they are above them.”
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In his letter to residents Mr Eastwood wrote: “Why should hard working people have to pay for the privilege of parking in front of their own homes when someone who has their own driveway pays nothing extra?
“Labour claim to be the party of the poor, yet by levying this unfair tax on parking, they are penalising the people who can least afford it. Surely, that cannot be right?
But this could be just the tip of the iceberg. It may be £15 now but what is to say that your Labour-run council would not further penalise you by charging much, much, more in future?
“Believe it or not some councils in the UK charge as much as a whopping £265 per year.”
The letter from the Labour councillors referred to Mr Eastwood and said they had spoken to Clr Steve Hall, Cabinet member for planning and highways, who said the council had “no plans” to increase charges.
A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “We considered the complaint as a matter of urgency. On this occasion our processes have not been properly followed and as a result everyone involved has been reminded of the rules in place.
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“The head of the service has apologised for any distress that this may have caused, and expectations regarding the use of council resources have been reinforced with both staff and councillors alike.”
Clr Scott said the letter was factual and not politically-motivated and was intended to correct “misleading” information.
She added: “We simply acted to provide residents with accurate information, in the same way we would had we been made aware of a letter containing inaccurate information from a gas or electricity supplier, or even Kirklees Council.
“This is not incorrect use of council services and we refute the need for any apology.”
