Merseyside councils have spent tens of thousands of pounds on snacks and meals in the past eight years, exclusive figures reveal.
The news comes as the UK is experiencing the most acute cost-of-living crisis in decades. Freedom of Information data, revealed by the ECHO, found Liverpool City Council as the most extravagant spender, having used £73,989 of taxpayers' money on tea and biscuits since 2015.
Year-on-year spending peaked in 2019 when the council used £17,176 of public money for catering services. Annual spending on refreshments plummeted to £0 after the first lockdown in March 2020 but rose to £397 in 2022.
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A spokesperson from Liverpool City Council confirmed “The figure relates to tea, coffee and biscuits which are made available at council committee meetings (such as full council, planning committee and so on) which last several hours.”
Halton Council used £13,614 of public funds on tea and coffee and biscuits between 2015-2020. Over the same period Sefton Council spent £5,867 on “subsistence” for councillors, the equivalent of more than 500 Full English Breakfasts at Dale Street Kitchen, Liverpool’s top rated breakfast restaurant on Tripadvisor.
Day-to-day spending for both local bodies nosedived after the pandemic. Halton Council spent £136 on refreshments in 2022 while Sefton Council used £268.76 of people's funds.
Knowsley Council has not spent a penny on tea and biscuits since 2020 but used £4,000 of public cash for refreshments over the past two years. Both Wirral and St Helens Council do not provide councillors with refreshments at meetings.
The ECHO gathered data from Britain’s biggest supermarket chains to put the costs into context.
Supermarket stores’ own branded tea bags cost:
Sainsbury’s (240 bags) £2.90
Tesco (240 bags) £2.90
Morrisons (240 bags) £2.40
Asda (240 bags) £2.20
Waitrose (160 bags) £2.20
Marks and Spencer (160 bags) £2.15
Aldi (240 bags) £1.59
Supermarket stores’ own branded digestives:
Sainsbury’s 39p
Tesco 50p
Morrisons 49p
Asda 50p
Waitrose 90p
Marks and Spencer 65p
Aldi 35p
Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Merseyside taxpayers struggling with council tax rises and a cost of living crisis will be fuming at these figures.
"While households are forced to tighten their belts, councillors and council officials have been loosening theirs.
“Local authorities must stop taking the biscuit and ease the burden on hard-pressed residents."
A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: “Sefton Council does not provide any food (this includes biscuits) at formal Council meetings, such as Cabinet, Full Council, Overview and Scrutiny etc; jugs of tap water are available and there is a coffee machine should any elected member wish to get themselves a hot drink…
“This expenditure may, however, include expenditure other than on food and sustenance. The amounts spent on subsistence have decreased year on year since 2018, and the figures for 2021/22 are nearly a tenth of what was spent in 2015/16 (£268 per year from £2,027 per year).”
A Knowsley Council spokesperson said “The Council has not incurred any costs for refreshments for formal Council meetings as refreshments are not provided. Refreshments have been provided for other meetings hosted by Council Officers with residents and partners. Over the last two years, the cost for refreshments has been £4,017.”
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