Brent Council blew �15,000 on awards ceremony which honoured library closure team
Chief executive claims event is a ‘fantastic boost’ to staff morale
Brent Council spent �15,000 on an awards ceremony in which the team behind the closure of six libraries was honoured, the Times can reveal.
The council gave out 139 awards to staff at the lavish end-of-year bash at Brent Town Hall earlier this month.
The night cost taxpayers around �50 for every person who attended, the council said. The Libraries Transformation Team, which was behind the project which closed half of the borough’s libraries, was named Team of the Year.
The council is currently struggling to balance the books and has to make �104 million of cuts over four years.
In addition to closing half of the borough’s libraries, day care centres for people with learning difficulties and a care home for people with dementia have closed.
Park wardens have been made redundant and street sweeping cut back. Two nurseries face closure and hundreds of people have lost their jobs.
Most Read
- 1 Revealed: Your favourite fish and chip shop in north London
- 2 Maskless passengers on London trains and buses fined 4,000 times
- 3 Baby among three rescued from Willesden flat fire
- 4 Trial date for men charged with fatal stabbing of Emmanuel Odunlami
- 5 Cricklewood estate reports 'major vermin' problem
- 6 Jailed: North London members of Essex drugs supply network
- 7 'Extremely dangerous' men convicted after girl kidnapped and raped
- 8 7 of the best Chinese restaurants with delivery in north London
- 9 'Strictest' headteacher to be documentary subject
- 10 Explained: What the cost of living support package means for you
The council’s chief executive, Gareth Daniel, said: “The awards provide a fantastic boost to staff morale in what are very challenging times for everyone working in local government.”
Was it right for the council to spend �15,000 on an awards ceremony? Email lorraine.king@archant.co.uk
