£100,000 Budget Requirement to underwrite event to mark unveiling of Margaret Thatcher statue

The request was partially successful.

Dear South Kesteven District Council,

Given that the Council Leader Cllr Kelham Cooke today refused to allow any questions from myself or my colleagues Cllrs Amanda Wheeler and Cllr Ashley Baxter to be answered prior to his Cabinet's decision to endorse a Budget Requirement of up to £100,000 of public money to underwrite a party to mark the unveiling of a statue of Margaret Thatcher, please accept the questions as I asked them at today’s Cabinet meeting under Freedom of Information legislation:

1. Please clarify whether the professional fundraisers and the event management firm to be hired in relation to the statue unveiling event are one external organisation or more than one….? Who are they? What’s the projected cost of their services?
2. Can you confirm whether as at today’s date an outside organisation has already been engaged by the council and whether they’ve suggested a core budget of £74,454, plus £35,040 for ‘optional extras’ such as £3,500 for ‘additional refreshments’ and £2,000 on ‘keepsakes for VIP guests…’?
3. What’s the internal costs of council staff related to the unveiling event both to date and projected? How many staff hours have been worked on the project to date and how many expected?
4. I note the external organisation engaged will be contracted to manage communications. How many communications officers does the council already employ and at what total cost… isn’t managing communications what we pay our team of communications for? Do our internal communications team lack skills necessary to manage communications for a council event?
5. I note it is proposed that ongoing maintenance of the statue and plinth will be met by existing budgets…what happened to earlier assurances that no public money would be used regarding the statue?
6. I note that in response to the call-in by myself and others, the February 2nd report to Cabinet says officers have prepared a briefing report. Why does This Report not follow the accepted format for Reports to Cabinet or Council? What’s the date of the Report, who’s the author, who reviewed it, who approved it and who signed it off and when…?

Yours faithfully,
Phil Dilks
Independent councillor for Deeping St James

SARAH MOORE, South Kesteven District Council

Dear Councillor Phil Dilks

Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Information Request Acknowledgement

Thank you for your request for information, this has been registered with us on 2.2.21.

Your request has now been assigned to the relevant department. We will provide you with a response within 20 working days.

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Yours sincerely,
South Kesteven District Council
[South Kesteven District Council request email]

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FOI, South Kesteven District Council

1 Attachment

Dear Cllr Dilks,
Please see attached a full response to the FOIs submitted by you, Cllr Baxter and Cllr Wheeler.
If you require any further information please don’t hesitate to contact [South Kesteven District Council request email]
Kindest regards,
South Kesteven District Council

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