COUNCILS are, in effect, huge multi-million pound corporations.

But they are huge multi-million pound corporations with a statutory duty to provide the taxpayer with a range of services, including information.

There is some leeway as to how they provide that information. Many put out regular newsletters, such as Surrey Matters or the Tandridge magazine. And all have a website.

But caution needs to be exercised whenever councils publish their own newsletters or magazines. There is a thin line between the provision of information and self-promotion. And these publications can be very expensive to produce.

And more expensive still, especially if it is not done in an efficient and cost-effective way, is the provision of a council website.

Surrey County Council spent £84,068 last year on its website – a figure that does not include staffing costs.

The Mirror appreciates any council wanting to provide a world-class service needs a solid online presence.

And with over four million visitors last year browsing through 8315 pages, the site is certainly popular and providing a range of valuable services.

But we have to question whether such a vast sum is justified, especially when looking at the cost of other websites by other councils.

Meanwhile, in Tandridge, £30,000 a year is spent creating just three issues of the district council's magazine.

Critics accuse such magazine's as being full of spin and propaganda. Over the course of a year, the council received just 20 e-mails, calls and letters regarding the magazine.

Three of those were from residents complaining it is not good value for money.

We appreciate that councils have a duty to tell us what we need to know. But when they are doing it at our expense, we have the right to demand value for our money.