Cheshire West and Chester Council paid 200K for meeting rooms

Mar 10 2011 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

CHESHIRE West and Chester Council spent £207,405 hiring meeting rooms in 2010, according to a Freedom of Information response.

The council says this amount may include other expenditure associated with the meetings and some costs may be covered by grants or payments.

Officers refused to give a full breakdown of venues hired stating this would take too long to compile but were willing to provide examples.

The Cheshire View at Christleton was hired for 32 delegates over four days at a cost of £737 to provide Early Years Training.

A spokeswoman said: “The Cheshire View was used as it gives a good rate; it is easily accessible and meets Disability Discrimination Act Standards.

The people we aim the training at are from the private, voluntary and independent sector and people don’t want to pay for parking. CWAC rooms are not big enough to run such an event.”

De Vere Wychwood Park at Crewe was hired for 66 delegates on behalf of the Cheshire Learning Resource Network, an employer-led workforce partnership, at a cost of £2,220.