THE opposition leader at Thurrock Council has raised concern over the ‘transparency’ of the process that led to the award of the Council’s contract for advertising.
The contract was won by the Enquirer series, which led to the launch two weeks ago of the Thurrock Enquirer, a separately branded title distributed across Thurrock.
While stressing he “had no axe to grind with any media organisation,” at Tuesday’s full Council meeting Cllr Hague quizzed Labour’s John Kent over the contract and tender process, saying: “Could the Leader explain the decision process for awarding the contract for newspaper advertising to the Thurrock Enquirer?”
Cllr Kent responded by saying there had been a “full and robust” process, but Cllr Hague retorted by implying that councillors had been kept in the dark, adding: “This is a matter of grave concern and has not been done in a transparent way.
However, Cllr Kent brought laughter from his own benches when he detailed the process, including its full discussion at a Corporate Overview and Scrutiny meeting on 5 October, a meeting at which he revealed Cllr Hague had been in attendance.
Dont worry it will only be a few months and Gary Hague will have forgot that he was in the chamber on Tuesday nights steamrolling cuts to Thurrock residents.
Wait for it in just a couple of months- he will try to blame Labour for privatising Grays beach and Thameside Theatre and shutting down the Grays Adult Education College.