Liverpool Council has defended its decision to spend thousands of pounds for staff to attend award ceremonies.
According to local authority data, seen by the ECHO, the city council has spent almost £6,000 to provide travel and accommodation for its staff and members to attend ceremonies in the last 12 months. Among the events attended include the National Pest Awards in London where the council won local authority of the year in September 2022.
Amid criticism from opposition parties, the council has defended its position, saying engaging with these events “is helpful recognition for our staff.”
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In an email seen by the ECHO, the council confirmed for travel, accommodation and table bookings to attend the Local Government Chronicle awards earlier this month, £4,637 of taxpayer cash was spent. Members of the cabinet and authority officers were present at the ceremony on June 8.
A further £448 was used towards place costs and hotel fees at the Event Production awards in February while hotel and travel expenses for the National Pest Awards last year cost the taxpayer £804. The council’s pest control and animal warden service triumphed at the event.
The expense has come under fire from Liberal Democrat members amid Liverpool Council confirming it could no longer subsidise the Epstein Theatre in the city centre.
In 2018 an agreement was struck between Epstein Entertainments Ltd, Liverpool Council and a commercial property landlord which owns the lease to the building but sub-leases the theatre back to the entertainment company. As part of the management agreement, the council was to cover a proportion of the rent, service charge, utilities, and maintenance work.
The local authority has financially supported the venue since the 1960s and its most recent expenditure on the Epstein was in excess of £100,000 per year. However this funding has now come to an end, along with the management agreement.
As a result, if no financial support is found, the theatre could close for good next week.
Lib Dem culture spokesperson, Cllr Laurence Sidorczuk, said: “How can the council justify sending councillors off to an award ceremony in London while one of our great theatres is left to fend for themselves?”
In correspondence seen by the ECHO, new council chief executive Andrew Lewis said he was aware of the optics given the decision around the Epstein. He said: “I do feel it’s important for the council to engage with local government awards, where appropriate and we have some best practice to share.
“This is not something we do lightly but engaging with sector awards is helpful recognition for our staff, and helps contribute to the sharing of best practice amongst councils. It also helps demonstrate that, whatever our very real and significant challenges, we are still capable of delivering excellent results in some areas.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Liverpool Council said: “It’s fantastic for our teams to get national recognition as the best in class for their work improving services for residents. We send a small number of people to represent the council at award ceremonies, and keep costs to a minimum by ensuring they travel standard class and stay in no frills hotels.”
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