Taxpayer-funded paper must change by May 1, Tower Hamlets told
Mayor Lutfur Rahman - Credit: Archant
The council has been given until May 1 to bring its taxpayer-funded newspaper East End Life into line with new government legislation.
A letter from the Department for Communities and Local Government said the paper, called a “Town Hall Pravda” by local government secretary Eric Pickles, must switch from being a weekly to a quarterly publication.
The letter, sent on April 17 to five boroughs, alleged the paper, which is delivered to 90,000 homes in Tower Hamlets, is “not objective” and “not even-handed”.
A council spokesman said: “Councils have a duty to publish statutory notices, for example on licensing and planning. “Balancing all this, Tower Hamlets decided the best value for money use of resources was to continue to produce a popular weekly publication.”
He said an ICM poll has found the paper is residents’ favourite way to receive council information.
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The spokesman said the council will respond to the secretary of state by May 1.
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