A council culture of ambiguity, exaggeration, omission and dishonesty

Press advertisements placed by Conservative run Essex County Council are inaccurate, dishonest and misleading according to a formal complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. The ads have been running in local papers across Essex over the last few weeks and advertise the administration’s pledges on council tax and post office initiative.

Speaking about the ads, Cllr Tom Smith-Hughes, Liberal Democrats group leader, said: “Two of the ads placed by the council in local papers and paid for with taxpayers’ money, contain information that we believe to be in breach of guidelines for advertising standards. As a consequence, we have complained to the council’s chief executive and senior officers and in the absence of an appropriate explanation, we have lodged a formal complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority.

“One of the ads claimed that five post offices have already been re-opened under the council’s post office initiative. That is incorrect as only three post offices are currently operational under the scheme.

“A second ad claims that this year’s council tax is the “lowest ever council tax”. This is clear nonsense as council tax has gone up every year of the Conservative’s rule at county hall, so this year’s council tax is actually the highest ever. A second statement in the same ad says that a council tax rise of 1.9% this year “..fulfils a pledge made to you late year to keep any rise in Council Tax below inflation”. A blatant untruth as the inflation rate at the time the council tax was set was, in fact, 0.9%.