£47,000 cost of councillors' snacks (From Dorset Echo)

£47,000 cost of councillors' snacks

7:58pm Friday 2nd May 2008 in

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Snacks, drinks and room hire for county councillors have cost council tax payers £47,572.97 over the last four years.

Figures released by Dorset County Council show it spent £11,557.28 on tea, coffee, biscuits, and lunches for its 45 members in 2007/8.

The same figure was more than £12,000 in 2006/7 and £13,000 the year before that.

The figures include occasional spending on room hire and accommodation for externally held events, the council says.

Mark Wallace, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "It's important councils realise every penny of their budget is precious and should be looked after. We're not suggesting councillors should be on bread and water but £11,000 is a lot of biscuits."

A county council spokesman said the figures included occasional spending on room hire and accommodation for externally held events - for example county council network meetings in London.

Dorset County Council leader Angus Campbell said: "Members are provided with light refreshments for council business, as committee and panel meetings often run for more than two hours.

"Nonetheless, we keep a tight rein on these budgets and our spending on refreshments has decreased over the last three years."

Dorset County Council provides tea and coffee for an average of 20 council meetings a month. These include committee, panel, cabinet and full council meetings. Full council meetings are held four times a year and on these days a buffet lunch is provided.