Council bosses spent £3,000 on luxury hotel trip to discuss how to cut costs

By Heidi Blake Published: 7:30AM GMT 05 March 2010

Worsley Park, A Marriott Hotel & Country Club Photo: MARRIOTT

Oldham Council, that is scheming to cut 500 jobs, outlayed scarcely �3,000 promulgation twenty politicians and officers to the Marriott Worsley Park Hotel and Country Club, in Greater Manchester.

The four-star road house was selected as the venue for a assembly to plead how to "deliver improved services in the face of marked down funding" notwithstanding being only fifteen miles from the councils own assembly rooms, that were not long ago upgraded at a cost of around �500,000.

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Howard Sykes, the Liberal Democrat legislature leader, was taken to the hotel, that includes a championship golf march and has been used by the England football team, in a county car. Charlie Parker, the councils arch executive, was additionally between the group.

A legislature orator described the event, that cost �145 a head for overnight accommodation, refreshments and discussion facilities, as "good value".

But opponents have described the preference to hold a cost-cutting assembly in a oppulance road house as "bizarre".

Councils are underneath flourishing vigour from Central Government to have assets as open spending cuts loom. It was likely last week that as most as 100,000 internal management workers could lose their positions as piece as piece of the misfortune turn of pursuit waste "for a generation".

The Dailydisclosed last month that legislature chiefs had refused to conform an sequence from Government to divulge the salaries of thousands of comparison staff, claiming it would lead to a open outcry.

John Denham, the communities secretary, has told councils to have "tough choices" in sequence to strengthen spending front line services.

Oldham legislature has pronounced it might cut 500 jobs over the subsequent 3 to five years in an try to have savings. But Councillor Jim McMahon pronounced the preference to hold the afar day in an costly venue showed it had got the priorities wrong.

"The taxation payer contingency be seeking at this legislature as utterly out of touch," he said. "To outlay �500,000 on upgrading your own comforts and afterwards carrying to go outward of your own precinct is bizarre. It"s only one thing after an additional and you have to consternation how most some-more people will take."

A orator for Oldham Council said: "Local authorities are confronting poignant hurdles in perplexing to broach improved services in the face of marked down appropriation from executive government.

"As piece of formulation for the destiny the council"s comparison care group binds dual of these 24-hour vital events each year.

"All officers and politicians attended this in their own free, unsalaried time. Most councillors have day jobs, that is because the eventuality had to be hold starting on a Friday afternoon and in to that evening, prior to using via Saturday daytime.

"The use of holding afar day events is usual between most alternative internal authorities."

Oldham Council last came underneath glow for wasting open income in January, when a decider chastised the trade standards trainer for bringing a injured charge opposite a kitchen salesman at a intensity cost of �5 million to the taxpayer.

Tony Allen indicted Vance Miller of offered business presumably high peculiarity kitchens that were in actuality done of chipboard, but Judge Jonathan Foster QC threw the box out of court, observant it was "not formed on any arguable material".