Dinner at the Haven

As I mentioned in my previous blog there was a payment of £1,552.11 in the December supplier payments which was for "Equipment and Material Purchases" by the Assurance Department. Yesterday I received the  response  to my FOI request to understand what this payment was for. It turns out this was for  a Town Twinning Dinner at Haven Bar & Bistro, Whetstone with a delegation from the Council’s Twin Town of Morphou, Cyprus. Expenditure was from the Town Twinning Budget and payment was authorised by the Mayor’s Secretary. This dinner formed part of a schedule of events with the Morphou Delegation.

My main concern is that it was labelled as ''Equipment and Material Purchases" as I think that is misleading to say the least but the question does arise should we have spent this money at all. Some may say it is a relatively trifling amount and is something we should do to maintain friendships with Morphou. Others might say that at a time when we are cutting meals on wheels adult social care and children's services this is a rather inappropriate payment and maybe it should be sponsored by a local company or supplier to the council. 

Whatever your view at least we all know what it cost and it looks like they all had a jolly time - the bill is below: