As councils start to search for any and all possible ways to reduce spending, one prime candidate for cuts has reared its head - "Industry Awards".
To give a bit of background, this is a scam that has been operating for some years. Essentially, councils pay a fee to be entered for a given awards process - invariably described as "prestitigious" by the organisers - for one of their service departments.
Those councils who enter, and particularly those who are shortlisted, are then seduced into paying a fortune for tickets to the glitzy awards ceremony where they can all clap each other on the back about how they represent the "gold standard" of their industry, etc etc ad nauseam.
And the eventual benefit for the taxpayer who footed the bill for entry and tickets to the big bash? Nothing, zip, zilch.
Take for example an invitation which
has just dropped into my inbox from the Chartered Institute of Wastes
Management (which I assume was sent to anyone who's ever been in touch with the
organisation):
The price for a council to enter themselves into this "prestigious" process? £650 + VAT per council. Happily there are separate categories for Cities, Towns and Districts, conveniently providing an opportunity to have a large number of shortlisted councils, thus increasing the number of local authorities likely to buy tickets to the "gala luncheon".
In 2008/09 63 local authorities entered for the awards - and if the same number were to do so this year that would cost over £48,000. And that's just for one set of awards covering one council function!
There are plenty more of these scams out there - such as the British Parking Awards, which this year had celebrity impressionist John Culshaw as the hostt and has in the past sold tables for their Gala Lunch at £1292.50 (incl VAT) a pop.
There's no need for any regulations or rules to put a stop to this - councils simply need to get a grip and stop squandering our money on such self-indulgent tripe.
