| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Hounslow Council 50th Anniversary Dinner | |
| Posted by: | John Connelly | |
| Date/Time: | 23/01/15 11:21:00 |
| I received a reply from Hounslow Councils's Events Manager to my e-mail declining my invitation to the above event. She states "..for the record, the dinner - which is also a fund raising event for the local charities - is being wholly sponsored by our key partners in the private sector. It is therefore not being paid for out of council funds. Also the invited guests are a cross section of local people from a variety of backgrounds who all play a part in life in the borough." I therefore accept that the cost to council taxpayers will be less than without sponsorship. However, the organising costs and venue provision will still be borne by the council tax. A Black Tie event will undoubtedly involve all 60 councillors and their partners, the local MP's. Lord Lieutenant, local police chief and other worthies. There will be little space for the "cross section of local people" mentioned. I also, in a General Election year, note the timing of this event is before the cut off date for local political activity. I wonder how many of the invites will be calculated to influence local voting intentions in May? (My political virginity ended many decades ago!) Surely it would have been a better use of the funds contributed from private sector partners to celebrate this anniversary with a large informal event in the soon-to-be-demolished Lampton Conference Centre later in the year? Invites could have gone out to the huge number of local volunteers who assist the Council and the community by providing their services freely throughout the year, to council staff of all grades with records of long service in the borough, and to many others who have contributed to the community over the last 50 years. |