KENT'S SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP (WITH TRAVEL)

I don't have an awful lot of time tonight or any night recently but just so you know, maybe as a taxpayer, or a connoisseur of pointless spending, Kent council have released information concerning travel expenses for Council members.

If your a close follower of these pages, you will remember that I have highlighted, the many hundreds of thousands of pounds, flushed down the drain from the boys and girls in Maidstone(KCC) on what I call their American Adventure.

Since I haven't got the time, please click here for the KM story. One thing I will say is that the story whilst mentioning the thousand spent on "essential" travel for councillors it forgets many thousand wasted other promotional activities in America.

On one trip Alex King, managed to incur costs of £6756, ( Virginia), now to put this in perspective a week for me & Mrs Me in New York cost, approx £2,200 (divide by 2) all in for hotel, taxi from airport, several Broadway shows, museums, sights meals car parking at airport. Alright maybe a business trip involves a bit more expenditure, taxis etc.

Finally here are a couple of quotes from Alex King "When you consider the costs of our American activities, they are a tiny proportion of the county council's overall budget but it has the potential to develop trade and maintain international links. and this cracker "We live in a county where the income per head is below the average for the South East and if we do not help raise the wealth of the county, we will have a problem." Maybe if Kent Council refrained from spending "large" on travel, we'd all be a little richer. The final conclusion has to be if this whole campaign in Virginia had resulted in any investment what so ever, I think Alex King might just have mentioned it. So far we've not seen any evidence of any inward investment, not so much as new McDonald's, Starbucks, KFC (which is just as well since I have just started a new diet).

If anyone in Kent council can prove any real benefit from all this promotional activity in America, which outweighs the cost, I'll make my next posting about Kent Council positive even if I have to invent something. Why Kent even needs a member for International affairs when it takes me 40 minutes to drive across Thanet is beyond me and I suspect you.

Time to say it's over!

I thought Kent Council would let the special relationship they have had with the state of Virginia, quietly die, if you remember over the last few years Kent Council has spent the better part of a million pounds on their adventure in America. You'll probably also be aware, that Kent has derived absolutely no benefit whatsoever so far, unless there has been some inward investment, that nobody has mentioned may be a new "McDonald's" or "Subway" outlet has opened in the county.

Anyway it looks as if American bureaucrats are now picking up on this game of pointless relationships, apparently The Chief of Staff to The Governor of The Commonwealth of Virginia accepted an invitation to visit Kent just before Christmas and is promising to come back with his team sometime in April.

Apparently KCC's Director of Improvement Robert Hardy (doesn't he write books), is quoted as saying " this is part of our continuous programme of comparing ourselves against the best practice nationally and internationally.... to offer best value for money"

Here's my tip on best value for money, why not send each other E mails or if you're feeling extravagant pick up the phone, better still why not discover best practice in your home country.

Lets hope we don't see Kent tax payers shelling out on council bigwigs off on pointless junkets again this year, what a waste of money god knows where they get it from (see this years tax rise).


Kent council's news brief click here

Update on Kent's American adventure

Having a minute or two of spare time today, I thought I would ring up KCC, and check what was actually occurring as a result of Kent councils marketing efforts in Virginia and Washington this year. As you will appreciate significant amounts of time and money had been spent on marketing Kent, my estimate somewhere in the region of £350,000 this year.

A quick call to, KCC resulted in me being put through to an information line, operated by Kent Tourism Alliance who in turn put me through to one of the top bods, who although were unable at this point, to give any hard evidence of results obtained were able to reassure me that research was being done, as we speak.

Hopefully the fruits of that research will be, placed in the public domain when it becomes available, with a bit of luck sceptics such as myself will be proved wrong and hotels and restaurants will be knee deep in our American friends.

So far Kent's strategy of marketing the county almost exclusively to the state of Virginia, has yet to show any significant results, since the many hundreds of thousands of pounds spent over the last 2 to 3 years, has become increasingly embarrassing to the conservative administration in Kent, had there been any good news to report, I think we would have all heard of it by now.

Anyway this is a topic frequently covered, but if this is new to you, may I suggest you use the search blog facility.

KENT'S AMERICAN ADVENTURE

A MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Before Mondays big Turner meeting, I was pondering whether Alex King, Deputy leader of Kent council had ever visited Margate. As he was once again subject of an article in this weekends Kent on Sunday newspaper as it returned to the rising cost of his visits to America.

Since I was sitting only a few feet away from him, in the Winter Gardens, I suppose could have asked him, what he thought we might achieve? as Kent’s investment of your money is now probably well beyond a half million pounds. This would have been particularly handy since for the last week I have been trying to establish from KCC whether they actually have any method of measuring, their effectiveness in attracting business to this county.

The Kent on Sunday, is focusing on the Deputy council leader Alex King, apparently, spending £3657 of our money for a fortnights stay on business as part Kent American adventure.

Of course we all know of the £300,000 wasted on Flights to Manston but the costs are continuing to mount, and it seems that the local press have missed out on what I think will prove a bigger controversy the £300,000 being spent on sending forty odd off to Washington for a week or so to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

It seems that Kent council are very naïve, if they think that American business is going to invest in this county, just because Alex King or anyone else for that matter visits on behalf of the county.

I would like to know if Alex King, could point to any benefit this county has so far had with a very narrow focused marketing campaign. Since Alex King has Kent county responsibility for performance management as part of his cabinet brief maybe he ought weigh up his own performance so far.

Kent council have been working on this project for some considerable time and not once have the been able to announce any positive news all we get is hot air. I understand that Alex King will be shortly making another trip to America, were he working for a commercial organisation, in a sales capacity questions would have been asked long ago, and maybe he would have been sent on a trip elsewhere by now.

Clueless in Washington

The rising cost of Kents American Dream

Following up on my recent reference to Kent council's involvement in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, I have recently received a fact file, which reveals, some of the further cost in Kents continuing relationship with the Commonwealth of Virginia, as you will recall earlier in the year it was announced that Kent council had lost £300,000 or more on the Manston to Norfolk Virginia flights fiasco.

A few days ago Kent council put out a press item to the effect that there would be a 40 strong group of people taking part in the Folklife Festival in Washington, not surprisingly they made little reference to the fact that this would be costing in the region of £225,000 which even by my appalling maths works out at around an astonishing £5,625 per participant, now I doubt any the bright sparks at Kent have ever heard of Expedia, Travelocity or have the remotest clue what online booking might be.

Having checked out the cost of a reasonably good Hotel in central Washington (Capitol Hill), a decent flight with Virgin Airways, the most expensive I could see was £2,950. Even if you include the cost of taxis to and from the airport, this still leaves you with approximately £2,500 which would work out at around £160 a day for meals and expenses, having never been to Washington, I might be wrong, but elsewhere in America, you can eat very well for around £30-40 a day.

The more I study Kent County Council, the more inept and profligate they seem by the day. But in addition there is also an additional £100,000 that has been made available to maximise Kents impact, to be spent in promotional activities.

It will be interesting if, at some time in the future Kent council will be able to justify this by producing evidence of a mass invasion by camera wielding Yanks, I will believe it when I see it.

The cost of Kents American adventure, so far this year looks to be around £650,000, what a waste, just think of the services that could be provided with that sort of money, that's more than the cost of running Kent TV channel for a year, or the price of two chief executives!

Stuff the Union, we're off to Washington
As Kent embraces the American Dream

Kent council have announced some further details of their participation, of that great moment of history when two countries, were bound together in a common partnership, now you might well be thinking of the celebrations of the great union between Scotland and England which came into effect on the 1st May 1707, 300 years ago, well since the British Government's not about to celebrate the union, Kent aren't either.

Since everyone seems a little embarrassed, in admitting to being British these days, the powers that be at Kent council, have had to go further afield to find something to celebrate, fortunately they have come up with a somewhat tenuous link, with the birth of Jamestown 14th May, 1607 playing down the fact that this British colonial outpost was promptly abandoned in June of the 1609 by 60 survivors of the original 214 settlers.

Now 400 years on, for reasons best known to themselves, Kent County Council, feel it necessary to send 40 people, apparently drawn from all corners of Kent, having been selected by field workers who have spent nearly a year scouring the county to find the best people to represent various folk type themes, at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, unfortunately blogging was not one of those crafts being sought, otherwise I might be a tad more positive about the whole thing.

In Kent councils press release the final paragraph is headed ''Fantastic opportunity'' for Kent, now Alex King (deputy leader of KCC) is apparently quoted as suggesting how a vivid picture will be painted of Kent, and how it has so much to offer business and tourists alike, well what you and I are thinking right now, is cut the waffle, what actual tangible benefits have we had so far from this link with the state of Virginia.

KCC have been spending money on this relationship with the Commonwealth of Virginia, for some considerable time, the fiasco of flights to Norfolk Virginia from Manston, is still fresh in the memory as are the expenses accrued by Kent representatives visiting that part of the world. Now assuming that this participation of Kent in the 'Roots of Virginia Culture' event is at the expense of the Kent taxpayer, I think we are probably looking at another small fortune, assuming that the 40 participants in the event, are having their expenses met by the council (a two weeks stay in Washington DC with flight in a cheap motel is around £1,000).

My apologies to those individuals taking part, because the chances are that you are giving up your time for this event. However my criticism is levelled at what I see as an inept relationship with the Commonwealth of Virginia, since Kent taxpayers have spent a lot of money, and it was notable that few Americans booked flights on the now abandoned service to Manston. So to my mind we're just pouring more good money after bad. No doubt more Kent officials, will be guests of Virginia (at our expense) in Kents very giving relationship.

I have made inquiries as to the cost, of this event and will of course update you when I know.

Kent news item which omits how much this is costing