| Topic: | Re:Re:Proposed closure of Wandsworth Museum | |
| Posted by: | Roland Gilmore | |
| Date/Time: | 09/03/07 04:42:00 |
| I eventually received Cllr Grimston's calculations a few days ago and find that there are issues about the accuracy and presentation of his economic argument that must be urgently addressed. Paper 06-643 (Report to the Environment and Leisure Overview & Scrutiny Committee; Sept '06) shows an establishment of 8.93FTE (full time employees) for the museum. Cllr Grimston's calculations indicate 11.92FTE. If the former figure is correct, by pro-rata, Salaries are £80,552 less he states. Cllr Grimston's budget for 07/08 indicates £36,580 for building repairs. This can not, by it's nature, be considered a repeat item of expenditure and should be excluded from savings calculations. By adjustment, this results in a budget of £299,582. In view of the fact that visits to the museum in person have been increasing by 11% (and apparently by significantly more recently), this leads to a cost per visit of £9.40, excluding enquiries by letter, phone & e-mail, web visits and virtual tours or £5.85 including these which is distinctly below Cllr Grimston's CLAIMED cost of £18 per visit as reported by the council to local and national media. In view of the fact that redundancy costs are estimated at £250,000 and estimated additional costs this year are £146,000, actual savings can not be claimed for 08/09 but circa +£100,000 of extra expenditure and circa £300,000 p.a. savings thereafter (less the cost of the proposed library based service, storage of artifacts etc for which no figures have been calculated). If, for arguments sake, we estimate the cost of Cllr Grimston's proposals at say £150,000 p.a., savings will be less than £150,000 or less than £0.50 per resident p.a. I have asked that Cllr Grimston:- 1. Publish the estimated cost of his proposed library based service without further delay. 2. Publish the responses to his proposals by the Lottery Heritage Fund, The Learning & Skills Council, The European Social Fund, The Museum & Galleries Commission, The Wolfson Foundation and other benefactors to our museum. Also to publish the initial responses to grant applications under his new proposal or confirm if benefactors have indicated they are prepared to help fund his proposal. 3. Confirm if there will be grant claw back by outside benefactors if the museum closes September 07 thus further distorting his calculations. It is clear that Cllr Grimston has misled his fellow councillors, council tax payers and the general public about claimed costs and savings. This is a very serious charge. I e-mailed the 3 requests above to him on 4th March together with my comments on his financial calculations and have not received a response. I believe he has deliberately misinformed councillors and brought his office and the whole of Wandsworth Borough Council into disrepute. Furthermore, I believe he has damaged the image of our borough (and The Conservative Party) far beyond it's boundaries. I would add that I am very disappointed with Justine Greening. Thank you for keeping us informed Cedric. |