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.
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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.
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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
