All local councils the length and bredth of Britain are bracing themselves for having to make savage spending reductions, although this does not appear to be the case at Knowsley Council.
This week Knowsley have come under fire as it was revealed that are planning to have an exibitors stall at the Labour Party conference this Autumn.
Back in January 2007 Knowsley Council had spent £47,000 on exhibiting at the Labour conference over the previous four years. At the time the council said that, “Knowsley does not attend any other party political conference, it attends the Labour Party Annual Conference as the party in power.”
However, the council is exhibiting at this autumn’s Labour conference even though the party is not in power. Moreover, it is not exhibiting at either the Conservative or Liberal Democrat conferences.
Knowsley Council first started paying to appear at Labour Party conferences in 1998 and in the four years 2002-2006 spent £47,243 on this. In the three years 2007-2009 it spent a further £137,509, taking the total to £184,752. Figures for 1998-2001 are not available from the council, but assuming a similar rate of spend as in 2002-2006, this would bring the total to over £230,000. A further £32,950 is expected to be spent for this autumn’s Labour conference.
I'm sure the good folk of Knowsley are delighted that their money is being used wisely
