Merthyr Tydfil CBC Responds To Walesonline Article

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council would like to confirm that the information published in the article on 9th November, on Council credit card spend, was written out of context and it is requested that a clarification be issued. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Whilst the increased figure for Merthyr Tydfil from £143,000 in 2011/12 to £2.6m last year is correct, this was as a result of the Council taking advantage of a payment mechanism framework promoted by Welsh Government. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

On 26th October, 2015, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council introduced a programme of changing the way it pays for some of its goods and services. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By adopting Welsh Government’s Procurement Card Scheme and using a procurement card payment, where possible, instead of traditional payments forms (such as BACS), the local authority was able to take advantage of the purchase card rebate that the Welsh Public Sector gains through card spend. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

It must be understood that the Council delivers a wide range of services in many varied support areas to the population of Merthyr Tydfil . Spend with suppliers, such as iTunes or the purchase of items such as mp3 players, may seem at first unusual, until you take into account the Council’s support of Looked after Children, Social Care, Fostering and Schools etc. For example, Merthyr Tydfil can confirm it has purchased education apps for school iPads through iTunes. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Merthyr Tydfil can also confirm however that there has been no purchase on any of our credit cards for MacDonald’s Fast Foods. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Councillor Phil Williams, Deputy Leader and Portfolio member with responsibility for Finance commented: “ I have personally reviewed the full list of spend and am more than satisfied with all the items included on the purchase cards. As many other local authorities in Wales have done, we have embraced the Welsh Government Purchase card initiative in the interest of saving tax payers money. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“In light of the above, I would ask if you can issue a clarification on behalf of Merthyr Tydfil CBC, as the article in question seems to suggest that we have ‘increased’ our spend, when this is clearly not the case. We have simply used an alternative payment method which allows us, from a Council perspective, to save money” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​