Town halls accused of insulting taxpayer by splashing on award dinners

Town halls had been final evening accused of insulting taxpayers by spending hundreds of kilos on awards ceremonies.

An audit reveals that 100 councils have collectively spent virtually £350,000 on occasions celebrating their work.

Some despatched dozens of employees to the glitzy dinners, which this yr had been hosted by BBC star Huw Edwards simply earlier than he was suspended. Other native authority staff travelled by aircraft or first-class practice to ceremonies and judging classes and stayed at four-star motels.

One council that splashed out greater than £1,200 on this yr’s MJ Awards ceremony, having acquired a prize for its excellence final yr, has since declared itself bankrupt.

Elliot Keck, head of campaigns on the TaxPayers’ Alliance, mentioned: ‘Nothing will insult taxpayers greater than back-slapping, booze-fuelled award ceremonies to have fun years of failure.

The largest spender to ship employees to the MJ awards was the City of Wolverhampton Council, which despatched 48 staff at a price of £13,404

‘Town corridor after city corridor has needed to fess as much as wrecking their funds, whereas virtually each council within the land has hiked charges yr after yr.

‘Next time a council receives a nomination, they need to think about whether or not their residents would actually be blissful to foot the invoice for them to just accept it in particular person.’

The stress group requested a whole bunch of councils whether or not they had spent public cash on sending employees to the MJ Awards, held yearly by the Hemming Group, a enterprise writer.

In whole 100 replied, offering particulars of £347,344 paid out between 2019 and 2023. The largest spender was the City of Wolverhampton Council, which despatched 48 staff at a price of £13,404.

In 2021 it paid out £1,530 to place employees up at a Hilton resort and final yr spent £5,590 on tables for 18 company to benefit from the ceremony.

A spokesman mentioned: ‘We have considerably diminished what we spend on these awards, spending simply £89 in 2023 due to securing sponsorship to fund a lot of the fee.’

Second was Isle of Wight Council, which spent £11,600 together with hundreds when the occasion was held just about throughout Covid in 2020.

In 2019 it spent £625 on lodging on the New Linden Hotel and on journey prices, together with ‘flights to Manchester for 3 officers to attend the judging day’, in addition to ferries to the mainland.

A spokesman mentioned: ‘The Isle of Wight Council has not attended the MJ Awards since 2021. The prices highlighted within the referenced FoI doc are of a historic nature and in addition a one-off expenditure. They don’t affect on the present budget-setting course of.’

Essex County Council got here third, spending £11,281 over two years. Last yr 25 delegates attended the occasion – at which Essex’s well being and care companies workforce received an award – and this yr seven went.

A spokesman mentioned: ‘Being nominated for a nationwide award recognises the excellence of our companies and celebrates the arduous work and achievements of our staff.

‘Last yr, a really small variety of staff attended the MJ Awards, at a price which was lower than 0.0008 per cent of the council’s funds. This yr’s awards value simply 0.0002 per cent of our funds.’

And fourth was Rushcliffe, a small borough council in Nottinghamshire, which spent £9,597 sending 25 delegates this yr. A spokesman mentioned it was vital to recognise the arduous work of employees.

Nottingham City Council, which just lately went bust, spent £1,255.

Hemming Group mentioned that its awards ‘recognise the work of frontline council employees and managers throughout the UK.’