Chester West and Chester Council spent £12million budget on establishment and rebranding

Aug 27 2009 by Naomi Dunning, Chester Chronicle

THE cost to establish and rebrand Cheshire West and Chester Council is £12m.

The total budget for the transition from a two-tier system to the unitary authority was revealed by a Freedom of Information Act request made by the Chester Chronicle to the council.

In the financial year 2008/09, £7.7m was spent on the transition – and the council expects to spend a further £5m this financial year.

Costs incurred so far include:

A total of £26,021 was spent on signs on streets, car parks and buildings.

It cost £45,826 to issue Cheshire West and Chester uniforms to staff.

The council had to spend £30,487 on rebranding council vehicles and changing the liveries.

Since the council became active on April 1 this year, it has spent a further £33,890.23 on the transition – £14, 157.19 on clothing, £17,590.79 on printing and £2,142.25 on marketing.

It has cost the taxpayer a total of £300,000 so far to move people and equipment and standardise the computer systems during the restructure.

Chief executive Steve Robinson said: “We have tried to minimise spending on furniture and ICT kit and recycled as much as possible.”