Did you know your taxpayer money could pay for alcohol at the next Mayor Making Ceremony?
Having spoken to many residents on doorsteps across Dunstable and Houghton Regis, what is clearer than anything is how much we are all struggling in the Cost of Living Crisis. Many of us are having to choose between heating our homes or keeping the lights on, and for many, luxuries are a thing of the past. With this in mind, the extravagance of Dunstable Town Council’s 2023 Mayor Making Ceremony and Annual Council Meeting, an event complete with an extensive buffet and alcohol on the taxpayer’s dime, didn’t sit quite right. This year, the event cost the taxpayer almost £3000 to run in the Dunstable Conference Centre, with roughly £160 of that going towards drinks (including alcohol) and roughly £666 on food. The general public was not invited to attend, and though host to a number of attendees from the voluntary sector, many of those present were councillors, ex-councillors and the partners of both.
Cllr Greg Alderman decided to take a stand, and put forward a motion to reduce the amount Dunstable Town Council spends on its Mayor Making Ceremony and Annual Council Meeting at the recent Finance and General Purposes meeting on Monday the 13th.
The key points of Cllr Alderman's motion:
Alcoholic drinks should no longer be freely provided from taxpayer funds
Attendees will have the opportunity to make voluntary contributions to reduce the food and soft drink costs of the event
The attached clip shows Cllr Alderman speaking about the motion partway through the debate, his feelings summarised when he states “I do feel strongly about what taxpayer money is spent on and alcohol is not one of them. It’s just not right if you ask me.”
While agreeing with Cllr Alderman’s motion, Labour Cllr Michelle Henderson argued that “most times you go out to these kinds of events you are expected to put some money over the bar and buy your own [alcoholic drinks]”.
However, Dunstable Independent Cllr Attwell argued that “a welcome drink and something like that, it’s just courtesy”, while Tory Cllr Crawley said jovially “we don’t have to provide chairs either. We could ask people to stand. But it’s a nice thing to do, it’s part of the event”.
Broadly, debate focused more on the voluntary contribution side of the motion, with Tory Cllr Tamara stating, “I think the motion, if I’ll be honest actually missed the mark… yes [I agree with] the idea of cutting costs.. and I believe in the idea of this motion and the premise of it, but I think you’re looking in the wrong direction.” Cllr Tamara went on to explain that, in order to stop Cllr Alderman “completely wrecking the event” by asking for voluntary contributions, he had secured a £600 discount from the Dunstable Conference Centre for next year’s event, and that this “would save [the council] exactly what you want…”
While a £600 discount is excellent news and in keeping with the point of the motion, it can be argued that Cllr Tamara has somewhat missed the point: it is wholly inappropriate for taxpayer money to fund alcohol, especially in the present climate.
Adding insult to injury, Cllr Attwell stated that “we don’t want to be seen as a bit cheapskate” when discussing asking for voluntary contributions. “I think we’ve got to be careful,” he argued, “if we’re asking people for contributions… [volunteers] have already given their time”.
Cllr Hollick stated “I’d suggest a budget of £3000 in a turnover of £4m and a budget of some £2m is quite modest…” later going on to comment on the debate, “as I’ve said, I find it very strange that we’ve been talking for so long, about half an hour and the rest, about £3000 within £4 million, but there we are. We are doing what we can to make events cost effective, bearing in mind what the event is about and having other considerations as well.”
Labour Cllr Matt Brennan challenged these ideas, stating that “one of the biggest issues I have with [the Mayor Making Ceremony] is that it isn’t for the entire town.” He went on to counter Cllr Attwell’s point, arguing that whilst it is important to thank those in the voluntary sector, that those volunteering “aren’t going to stop doing those things because we don’t cluster them with food and cake once a year. They do it because they love their community and they do it for the people that need it”. “That money,” Cllr Brennan argued, “should be going elsewhere, especially when we have a cost of living crisis and a possible increase in the precept of 6%.”
After hearing the debate, Cllr Alderman offered to remove the request for voluntary contributions of attendees, while sticking to the point that attendees should pay for their own alcoholic drinks, not the taxpayer.
Unfortunately, the vote was lost:
- Votes For: 4 Labour, 1 Conservative, 1 independent Independent
- Votes Against: 4 Conservative, 2 Dunstable Independents
- Votes not cast due to absence from the meeting: 2 Dunstable Independents
As the vote was tied, Cllr Peter Hollick as Chair broke the tie in favour of status quo.
Cllr Alderman has commented
Though my motion was defeated, I was really pleased that in response to it, several councillors drafted motions and put forward ideas of their own to reduce the costs, notably Cllr Johnson Tamara, Cllr Louise O’Riordan, Cllr Peter Hollick and Cllr Nick Kotarski. It is hoped that for our next Mayor Making and Annual Council Meeting, the venue costs can be meaningfully brought down and that a possible alternative venue can be booked that will have its own bar and remove the cost of alcohol to the Town Council altogether. However, I am very disappointed that if held in a venue without its own bar, the taxpayer will be footing the bill for booze.
We would like to know what you think about this decision. Should alcohol be paid for using taxpayer money?
Watch the recording of this meeting at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M__HvcEIJA&t=3856s.
Discussion of Cllr Alderman's motion begins at 31:52. The start of each speech that Cllrs quotes are drawn from, in the order they are mentioned are: Cllr Henderson quote begins at 1:02:14, Cllr Attwell quote begins at 1:01:14, Cllr Crawley quote begins at 1:10:19, Cllr Tamara quote begins at 43:00, Cllr Attwell quote begins at 39:19, Cllr Hollick quote begins at 53:30 and the second quote can be found at 1:30:19, Cllr Brennan quote begins at 40:48.
The full text of Cllr Alderman's motion is below:
“That the Council cuts the catering costs of the upcoming Annual Council Meeting and Mayor Making Ceremony by charging for alcoholic drinks at the bar and asking for those attending to reduce food and soft drink costs of the event through voluntary contributions. This amendment is considered in light of the costs of providing these provisions from last year, being £160.20 and £666.67 respectively, a cost that is likely to rise this coming year. This motion is also informed by the public expectation that taxpayer money funds public services, not free food and drink at an already costly event.”
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