Jul 16 - GSD: No6 Budget “Spiralling Out of Control”
The GSD has said that Mr Picardo's “obsession with responding to every advert” they have placed in the Gibraltar Chronicle continues. The party says that the Chief Minister is clearly concerned that people will object to his expensive and lavish political lifestyle. The party argues that Mr Picardo’s “latest attempt to excuse the excessive spending at No6 Convent Place is to deny figures, which have always been published by every Government at Budget time.”
The Opposition says that, in this debate, it is worth looking at some of the numbers and provides the following is a comparison of No6 spending between the financial years 11/12 and last year:
IT Department: £676k to £1.1M
EU Department: £585k to £797k and forecast to rise to £904k next year
Phone bill: £58k to £123k
EU Department marketing: £30k to £60k
IT Department maintenance agreements etc: £285k to £650k
Electronic data communication: £377k to £704k
Communications, information and lobbying: £300k to £1.11M
Private sector fees for legal advice: £680k to £1.86M
Protocol and entertainment: £45k to £260k
Travel: £360k to £1.05M
Grants: £375k to £1.19M
Research, development and professional fees: £35k to £453k
Postage: £28k to £171k
Media monitoring: £0 to £425k
Personal emoluments: £2.36M to £4.18M
A statement from the party continues: “In his latest attempt to mislead the public, Mr Picardo claims that the increased cost of No 6 is due solely to the cost of the absorption of additional departments, however, with the exception of the mysterious ‘media monitoring’ department, all these departments existed in the Financial Year 11/12.
“These increases of expenditure at No6 are wholly and exclusively down to the Chief Minister and are not due to any absorption of the functions of other Government departments by No6. Neither are these figures clearly and transparently available on the Government website, as claimed by Mr Picardo when he directed Members of the Opposition there after being asked questions in Parliament about his travel expenses.
“There is a marked discrepancy between the figure on the website and those published during the Budget, calling into question the accuracy of figures published on the Government website.
“The reality is that Mr Picardo is proving to be a very high maintenance Chief Minister for the taxpayer.”
