Tim Pickstone

Last week Lib Dems in Bury asked a question to the Police Authority about rumours about a black tie dinner at the FIVE STAR Lowry Hotel in Manchester. This was being organised, at taxpayers expense, to mark the end of Greater Manchester Police Authority this November (it is being replaced by the elected Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner).

We asked the simple question how much is the dinner costing? Other Liberal Democrats in Greater Manchester were asking the same questions. In Oldham, the same question was being answered at their full Council meeting the same night.

Here was our answer from Bury’s Police Authority member Labour Councillor John Smith:

It was always our plan to have an event to mark the end of the Police Authority, which has served Greater Manchester for the past 25 years. However, now that we have had all of our responses for next week’s dinner it is clear that the date doesn’t suit a large number of people, and on that basis we have decided the best option is to cancel.
Unfortunately, time constraints mean we will not be able to rearrange the event.

The answer to ‘how much is it costing’? – It has been cancelled, apparently due to lack of interest. Apparently nobody wanted to go to a free dinner at a five star hotel.

So perhaps we will never know how much the dinner was going to cost the taxpayer, and might still with cancellation fees or lost deposits.

(with thanks to Iain Lindley for the photo)