Letter: Those in Elected Office Should Refrain from Deliberately Misleading the Public

Published on: 22 Jan, 2025
Updated on: 22 Jan, 2025

Report on Council’s Patrnership Benefits

From Paul Follows

Lib Dem Borough councillor and leader of Waverley Borough Council

In response to: Reported Council Collaboration Savings Contested By Opposition Councillors

Regarding the opposition councillors here at Waverley Borough Council, the report is in the public domain and has been published. It is not a long or particularly complicated report.

For any members of the public reading this, the document is available in the public domain on the websites of both councils. It will be debated at GBC tonight (22/01) and at Waverley next week (28/01).

See the Waverley Council website here.

See the Guildford Council website here.

Cllr Mcshane and I wanted to address questions from residents (and political opposition) in an open and fair way and attempt to remove political commentary by asking an independent body to conduct the review.

Local Partnerships, which conducted this report at no cost to either council, is a joint venture of the Local Government Association (LGA) and HM Treasury.

We can take reasonable assurance from this review’s standing, quality, and independence.

In my opinion, those in elected office should look to facts and evidence to support decision-making as much as possible and refrain from deliberately misleading the public and further eroding their trust in our democratic institutions.

Over the last two years, we have seen leaflets and other statements from the opposition at both GBC and WBC that were demonstrably false on this subject, and I hope that this will now cease with this report.