Lib Dems Urge Caution Over Tripling of Conference Subsidy Money

12.00.00am GMT Wed 28th Nov 2007

Manchester Liberal Democrat Leader Councillor Simon Ashley has urged Labour's Town Hall bosses to think carefully before tripling the money it spends subsidising conferences in the city. The proposal, to increase spend by £1.7million over 5 years, was considered at November's Executive committee meeting.

The current subsidy is £265,000 per year. An additional £535K is proposed for the next two years, with a further £235K for the following three years, taking the yearly subsidy to £500,000 per year.

Cllr Ashley said:

"Everyone accepts that Manchester needs to market itself, but this is a tripling of the budget. The Council has to balance its marketing work with all its other commitments. I doubt that there are many Council Services where budgets are being tripled, and, if we are doing it here, I for one want to see a more compelling case than has been made so far."

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