Wolverhampton council accused of breaching local election rules

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Wolverhampton council has been accused of breaching local government rules in advance of this week's elections by showing political bias in a letter sent out to 117,000 households.

The letter featured a missive from the authority's leader Councillor Roger Lawrence explaining why the authority had bumped up council tax by 3.99 per cent.

But Tories in the city say the letter amounts to 'blatant electioneering' as it criticises the Government and 'attempts to put a positive spin on the Labour Party'.

Using public money to distribute material designed to affect public support for a political party is strictly banned in the weeks leading up to elections as it contravenes Section 2 of the Local Government Act.

Tory leader Councillor Wendy Thompson, said: "I am absolutely appalled by the council's actions. This is a flagrant misuse of the public purse designed to influence voters in the lead up to the elections."

Councillor Jonathan Yardley, a fellow Conservative, added: "It is blatant electioneering. I will be speaking to the council's legal department to find out exactly why this has been allowed to happen."

Council bosses have launched an urgent review and say the letters were due to be delivered before the pre-election period.

The authority has also submitted a formal complaint to the Royal Mail over allegations of late delivery.

In the letter Mr Lawrence writes that the increase in council tax is a result of Government cuts and that the authority has not received a penny of the Government's £300m tax relief fund 'which has unfairly benefitted wealthier areas of the country'.

The council leader, who is up for election in St Peter's ward on Thursday, concludes: "Despite the immense challenges we face, I am confident that our robust financial planning has left us in a stronger position than many other councils."

Mark Taylor, Wolverhampton council's director of finance, said the letters should have been delivered by Royal Mail in March.

"We are aware that a very small number of council tax bills may have been delivered to homes later than planned," he said.

"The council has asked its print and mail services supplier which manages this process to carry out an urgent investigation into the circumstances behind this."

Mr Taylor added: "Our mail services supplier has submitted a formal complaint about allegations of late delivery to Royal Mail. We would be extremely disappointed if the terms of our contract were not properly met.


"Clearly the distribution of 116,750 council tax letters to households across the city is a large undertaking for all concerned, but we are carrying out an urgent review to ensure that a similar situation does not happen again."

Royal Mail spokesman Rhys Jones said: "Should the council’s mail services supplier request that Royal Mail investigate the matter, we will of course do so as a matter of urgency."