Council spends £4,500 on refreshments since April

Westmorland and Furness Council spent nearly £2,000 on tea, coffee and refreshments in May

A council has spent more than £4,500 on refreshments for its meetings since April.

Westmorland and Furness Council in Cumbria spent £4,572 on "teas, coffees and refreshments", according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

The FOI request, submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, found the the council spent the most on food and drink in May, when £1,996 was spent on 11 public meetings.

The council said it did not provide refreshments for internal staff meetings but did so when meeting with residents and some events held outside its own properties.

"Providing refreshments can help create a welcoming environment for discussions with residents and external partners, particularly during long meetings, consultations or community engagement activities," a spokesperson said.

"It's our practice that refreshments are not routinely provided for internal staff meetings. Colleagues fund or provide their own."

The council said the figures included some larger public events which could not be held in its own buildings.

In July £995 was spent on refreshments, while the council has so far paid £818 in August. A total of £411 was spent in June and £350 in April.

The Liberal Democrat-run council was recently criticised for spending more than £165,000 on an IT system used by staff to book meeting rooms.

Deputy leader of the Westmorland and Furness Council Conservative group, Matt Brereton, said the three-year contract sounded "expensive", but the council said it holds hundreds of meetings each day and the system provided "value for money".