If Wales' local authority leaders are looking for places to make savings following the "massively disappointing" financial settlement from the Assembly Government, they could do worse than looking at the huge amounts they are currently spending on PR and publicity.
Pressure group The TaxPayers' Alliance have released a report today detailing how much each Welsh council has spent on publicity in the past year compared with 10 years previously. The figures are huge - particularly baffling to those of us journalists often struggling to locate the two-hour slot each day when some councils actually have a press officer on the other end of the phone.
Cardiff Council's outlay on PR is £1,317,817 - a rise 211.7 per cent over the past decade. But that compares reasonably well when you consider it is the UK's 50th largest council (and 113th in the list of big spenders). Swansea comes in at a more credible £433,000. But others are more mystifying. Can anybody explain how Conwy Council have spent £1,143,000? And, after getting through £1,093,000, where are all these positive promotional articles about Flintshire?