Criticism for council's presence at international convention
Nottingham City Council has been highlighted in a newspaper report about council spending on junkets.
The Sundays Times claims councils across the country have "lavished" more than £1m in two years on trips to events like the world's largest property fair in Cannes.
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City council chief executive Jane Todd will lead city delegation to Cannes
The event, called the Marche International des Professionels d'Immobilier – MIPIM – brings together developers from all over the world.
The city council has been a regular attendee alongside local business people as part of what it calls Team Nottingham.
Recently the local authority confirmed it would attend the property fair again in March, led by chief executive Jane Todd.
In the past two years the council has hired a luxury yacht in Cannes called The Powder Monkey to host receptions for business contacts, for the duration of the fair.
Following controversy in 2007, when the council's accounts reported that the authority had footed the £30,000 bill for the yacht, as well as a £52,000 beach party, council officers stressed last year that the entertainment had been paid for by sponsors.
In 2008, total council expenditure was £74,000, with sponsorship contributing a further £85,000.
City council officers formed part of a 60 strong delegation from Nottingham, mostly made up of business people. Local businesses say the event helps them secure contracts and lay foundations for future deals.
The city council argues Nottingham must have a significant presence at MIPIM to encourage investment. Competitor cities, such as Liverpool and Manchester also attend.
Liverpool City Council and together publicly funded bodies in the city spent £150,000 on sending staff to MIPIM last year.
4 Comments
by Ann, Bilborough
Monday, January 05 2009, 10:56AM
“Another little holiday for these wasters of public money .”
by inoff the red, peoples republic of sneinton
Sunday, January 04 2009, 10:05PM
“Are the "sponsors" identified?
It would be very interesting to see which of the Nottingham Property Mafia subsidise the council on this junket.
It would also be interesting to see how benevolent the planning authorities are when these supporters submit building plans.”
by Duncan Thompson, Nottingham
Sunday, January 04 2009, 7:54PM
“As Nottingham city council has attended previous functions of this nature presumably the benefits to the local economy can be quantified. Although I am unable to think of any property investment being made as a result of this marketing exercise it would be nice if Ms Todd can tell us where the investments have been made.”
by Harry, The City
Sunday, January 04 2009, 4:43PM
“Surely Jane Todd can produce a list that shows how much investment these junkets have attracted.
Or maybe this is a bit like the private contributions for projects like the Contemporary Art Center that are budgeted for by the City Council but never actually materialise leaving the tax payer to foot the bill.”