CORNWALL Council has spent more than £9,000 on awards ceremonies in the past four years – below the national average for local authorities.

New figures show that since 2015 the council spent £9,142  on awards ceremonies.

No indication has been given for what the awards ceremonies were for but the council does host annual awards to recognise staff achievements.

But compared to neighbouring authorities and the national average of £18,064, the council comes out looking well.

By comparison Devon County Council spent £62,810 and Plymouth City Council spent almost £90,000. Plymouth was the highest spending authority in the South West.

The national figures show that councils have spent more than £6million on awards ceremonies since 2015.

Commenting on the report, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Families in the UK who work hard to pay for their council tax will be disappointed to discover that so many local authorities are still spending money on unnecessary extravagances.

"There’s nothing wrong with congratulating staff who work hard or celebrating local businesses, but councils should prioritise the essential services that they are paid to provide.

"It’s encouraging to see that so many councils were successful in negotiating sponsorship arrangements to pay for some ceremonies, and all local authorities in the UK should seek to do the same.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Cornwall Council to comment on the findings but had received no response.