Last night I chaired the Vale's Scrutiny meeting when we discussed the proposed transfer of the Guildhall from the Vale to Abingdon Town Council. Some will recall that a similar deal was done in Faringdon with the Corn Exchange, except in this case the Vale is proposing to hand over £1.2m to the town council, to pay for capital improvements. Not only is this a financially bad deal for the people of the Vale, who will not get their money back for 12 years, but it also risks the future of the Guildhall itself. The Vale's Executive have not examined any business plan from the Town Council that shows how money can be saved or how the town council intends to keep the building open. No consideration has been given to the future of the Citizens' Advice Bureau which is currently located in the building which is to be vacated by the town council. The scheme is driven by political necessity, rather than the best interests of tax payers. The capital costs for Vale tax payers will be nearly a quarter of this year's council tax bill, and if you live in Abingdon it will be more than a third! The Scrutiny committee has recommended that the Council rejects the deal, the final decision will be made tonight.