THE Advertiser has been at the forefront of covering the district council's secret plans to close the last two remaining cash offices in Ormskirk and Skelmersdale.
Indeed, had we not covered it, the public would have been blissfully unaware that these two offices - which take a whopping £18m a year (including postal payments) - have already been axed.
At the time of writing, there has been no official statement from West Lancs on the issue and no other local paper has even given it a mention.
The truth is though that nobody was meant to know and if it hadn't been for us obtaining a copy of the confidential document then that would have been the case.
Since our exclusive last week, there's been a strong backlash against the decision, with tenants launching a petition and threatening to take the council to the Local Government Ombudsman.
But irrespective of that, the plan, which has now been passed by the Conservatives, is in my humble opinion a bit of a political gamble for Adrian Owens, who backed the closures despite severe doubts being expressed by the council's finance boss John Gardner.
Cllr Owens is the Conservative candidate for West Lancs at the next general election. In an interview with me earlier this year, he expressed concern over how the Tories could get the votes in places like Skem.
But what the cash office closure plan does is affect those very people who he needs to be able to turn the district blue.
Part of the reason is that the Conservatives are, rightly or wrongly, seen by the majority of people in Skem as the party of public service slashers.
Therefore this latest move may only reinforce that view, irrespective of whether it provides Cllr Owens with the savings he hopes it will. And if it actually loses the council money...
I doubt the effect of the cash offices saga will be felt at next May's local elections, but that's not to say it won't still be in people's minds come 2009/2010 where every vote matters, whether it was cast in Aughton or Ashurst.
If so, will it have been a political gamble worth taking?
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