So how much are SNP North Ayrshire Council spending on Gala dinners?

1.	Directorate	Award Body	Award Period	Award Title	Cost	Finalist (winner/finalist/commended/runner up/shortlisted)
2.	Place	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Service Innovation and Improvement	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
3.	Finance and Corporate Support	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Service Innovation and Improvement	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
4.	Economy and Communities	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Service Innovation and Improvement	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
5.	Health and Social Care Partnership	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Achieving Better Outcomes	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
6.	Education and Youth Employment	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Achieving Better Outcomes	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
7.	Democratic Services	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Achieving Better Outcomes	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
8.	Place	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
9.	Health and Social Care Partnership	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
10.	Economy and Communities	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Strong and Sustainable Outcomes	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
11.	Economy and Communities	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Strong and Sustainable Outcomes	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
12.	Economy and Communities	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Strong and Sustainable Outcomes	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
13.	Economy and Communities	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Local Matters	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
14.	Finance and Corporate Support	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Local Matters	Nil to date	Awaiting outcome of submission
15.	Place	Herald Society Awards	2015	Team of the Year Award FM	£676	Winner
16.	Health and Social Care Partnership	Herald Society Awards	2015	Entrepreneurial Minds Project- Community project of the Year Category
17.	Economy and Communities	Green Tourism Business Scheme	2013	Green Tourism Business Scheme	£300.00	Silver Award
18.	Place	Inside Housing Awards	2014	Top 50 affordable/ Top 5 small affordable Developments in the UK	£544.70	Winner
19.	Place	EAC National Housing for Older People Awards	2015	Housing with Care – Bronze Award	£267.12	Bronze Winner
20.	Economy and Communities	City of Edinburgh Council	2015	Edge Library Awards	£268.07 ·          Accommodation £198.87 Rail travel £69.20 .	Runner Up
21.	Economy and Communities	Alliance Scotland	2015	Self Management Awards- Project of the Year
22.	Economy and Communities	Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals	2015	Libraries Change Lives Award	£660.70 ·          Accommodation £285 Rail travel £383.70	Winner Awarded £4000 prize money
23.	Finance and Corporate Support	Contact Centre Association	2015	Complaints Team of the Year	£866 ·          CCA award  £ 199 ·          CCA Gala Dinnner ·           £ 687	Finalist
24.	Finance and Corporate Support	Contact Centre Association	2015	Innovation in Digital Transformation	Included in above	Winner
25.	Finance and Corporate Support	HR Network Awards	2015	Chief Executive of the Year	(included in £2200 below for HR Network awards)	Finalist
26.	Economy and Communities	Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Services	2014	Macmillan Cancer Support Volunteer Awards
27.	Economy and Communities	NHS Scotland	2014	NHS Scotland Person Centred Poster		Winner
28.	Place	RICS Scotland	2014	Residential St Beya’s Garden Millport	£39.80	Finalist Trudi Fitzsimmons & Gavin Ansari invited as guests of Anderson Bell Christie, who were the architects for the project
29.	Economy and Communities	West Sound	2014	Cream of Ayrshire
30.	Corporate	Quality Scotland	2015	Lean Six Sigma award		Winner
31.	Democratic Services	The Drum Scottish Event Awards	2015	Best Awards Scheme	£1679 ·          £139( award submission) ·          £1540 (award dinner tickets)	Winner
32.	Democratic Services	CorpComms	2015	Best Internal Communications	£2182.37 ·          £420 (two entries) ·          £690 (3 seats at awards ceremony ·          £1072.37 (travel and accommodation)	Finalists Ceremony -24/11/15
33.	Democratic Services	CorpComms	2015	Best Live Event	(included in above)	Finalists Ceremony -24/11/15
34.	Finance and Corporate Support	National GO Awards UK	2015/16	Team of the Year (Local Authorities)	£500 (Half Table / dinner / Ceremony) 2 staff from Procurement.  (£100 each), balance from Waste who were nominated in a different category	Highly commended
35.	Finance and Corporate Support	National GO Awards UK	2015/16	Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year Award	As above
36.	Place	COSLA	2016	Excellence Award Local Matters	Nil to Date	Awaiting outcome of submission
37.	Place	Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce	2015	Modern Apprenticeship Challenge – Overall project & Innovation within a project	£0	Winner Adam Cairney Dylan Shankland No costs for Council
38.	Finance and Corporate Support	Personnel Today	2015	Employer Brand award	£2100 ·          £2,100 (3 seats at awards ceremony/travel and accommodation)	Finalist – award ceremony 30/11/15
39.	Finance and Corporate Support	Personnel Today	2015	Award for Excellence in Public Service HR - Kai Sigma	(included in £2100)	Finalist – award ceremony
40.	Place	SkillBuild (CITB)	2015	Plasterer - Senior	£0	First place Fees paid by college
41.	Place	CITB Managing Agency Apprenticeship Awards	2015	Apprentice of the Year	£0
42.	Finance and Corporate Support	MJ Local Government Achievement Awards	2015	Innovation in Channel Shift	£177.90 ·          £150.30 (travel) ·          £27.60 (subsistence)	Highly commended
43.	Health and Social Care Partnership	Scottish Dementia Awards	2014	Best Acute Care Initiative	£0	winner
44.	Place	APSE Scottish Building and Housing Awards	2015	Apprentice of the Year 2015.	£1232.70 £997.00 Seminar/Hotel £145.70 Train £90.00 Guest Charge	Finalist Jamie Acheson Dylan Shankland Apprentice ceremony places free of charge, charges are for others attending with apprentices for the conference total fee, no breakdown
45.	Place	MJ Local Government Achievement Awards	2015	Best Council Services Team (FM)	£1733.64 £366.94 - flight £387.06 – accommodation £273.14 other 4 delegates	Highly commended Total includes £706.50 Flights for attending interview to support submission
46.	Place	MJ Local Government Achievement Awards	2015	Innovation in Procurement	£0	Submission unsuccessful
47.	Place	MJ Local Government Achievement Awards	2015	Effective transport and infrastructure delivery	£0	Submission unsuccessful
48.	Place	MJ Local Government Achievement Awards	2015	Maximising Resources	£0	Submission unsuccessful
49.	Place	MJ Local Government Achievement Awards	2015	Best Council Services Team	£0	Submission unsuccessful
50.	Place	LACA Awards for Excellence 2015	2015	Local Association for Catering in Education	£0	Submission unsuccessful
51.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Partnership Working Initiative (b) Public / Public Partnership Working. Care and Repair Extra.	£0	Submission unsuccessful
52.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Internal Service Team of the Year - Construction & Building Service.	£1232.00	Finalist Includes 55,58,59,60, 68  & 122 11 delegates at £112.21 Other costs £3654.80 Total £4886.80
53.	Place	APSE Striving for Excellence Awards	2015	Scottish Fleet, Waste and Grounds Striving for Excellence Award.	Free place	Fleet Bronze Award See 65
54.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Internal Service Team of the Year. A Strategy to deliver high levels of recycling performance against the constraints of decreasing budgets.	£0	Submission unsuccessful
55.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Partnership Working Initiative (b) Public / Public Partnership Working.	£0	Finalist See 52
56.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Employment & Equality Initiative. Work Experience & Training Programme.	£0	Submission unsuccessful
57.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Partnership Working Initiative (b) Public / Public Partnership Working. Provision of meals to school children during holiday periods.	£0	Submission unsuccessful
58.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Internal Service Team of the Year - Catering Service. Hub & Spoke project & employee initiatives.	£0	Winner See 52
59.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Building Cleaning & Facilities Management Service. North Ayrshire – The Road to Improvement.	£0	Finalist See 52
60.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Housing, Regeneration or New Build Initiative. Refurbishment of Woodgrove Sheltered Housing Unit.		Finalist See 52
61.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Housing, Regeneration or New Build Initiative. Dirrans Centre (New Build Initiative).	£0	Submission unsuccessful
62.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Housing, Regeneration or New Build Initiative. Refurbishment of Currie Court Sheltered Housing Unit & Linked Residential Unit.	£0	Submission unsuccessful
63.	Place	Scottish Home Awards	2015	Affordable Housing Development of the Year (Housing Associations/Councils). Redstone Wynd, Kilwinning.	£1200	Finalist Price per table
64.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Housing, Regeneration or New Build Initiative. Redstone Wynd, Kilwinning.	£0	Submission unsuccessful
65.	Place	APSE Striving for Excellence Awards	2015	Scottish Fleet, Waste and Grounds Striving for Excellence Award.	£467 £419 - seminar £48 - fuel	Waste & Recycling Silver Awards See 53 Seminar free for 2 members of staff, £419 for additional staff member no breakdown available
66.	Economy and Communities	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Partnership Working Initiative (a) Public / Private Partnership Working.	£1945.73 ·          £663.70 (Flights) ·          £628.85 (Accommodation) ·          £78.58 (Parking) ·          £135.00 (Other travel) ·          £439.60 (seats) ·          Above for 4 people	finalist
67.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Efficiency & Transformation Initiative	£0	Submission unsuccessful
68.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Internal Service Team of the Year. Transport and Fleet	£516.60 £82.60 - Flight £139.00 - Hotel £295.00 - Seminar	Finalist See 52
69.	Place	TIS National Excellence Award	2015	Tenant Participation Champion.	£135 (awards ceremony for 3 members of staff)	winner
70.	Place	TIS National Excellence Award	2015	Tenants Representative.	£0	Submission unsuccessful
71.	Place	TIS National Excellence Award	2015	Tenants Representative.	£0	Submission unsuccessful
72.	Finance and Corporate Support	HR Network	2015	HR Team of the Year	(included in £2200 below)	Finalist – ceremony 12/11/15
73.	Finance and Corporate Support	HR Network	2015	OD Award of the Year - Analytics	£2200 ·          £2200 (2 tables for 20 people)	Finalist – ceremony 12/11/15
74.	Finance and Corporate Support	HR Network	2015	Best Workplace of the Year	(included in £2200 above)	Winner ceremony 12/11/15
75.	Finance and Corporate Support	HR Network	2015	Strategic People Development Award	(included in £2200 above)	Finalist – ceremony 12/11/15
76.	Finance and Corporate Support	HR Network	2015	OD Award of the Year – Kai-sigma	(included in £2200 above)	Finalist – ceremony 12/11/15
77.	Finance and Corporate Support	HR Network	2015	Employee Engagement Award of the Year	(included in £2200 above)	Winner ceremony 12/11/15
78.	Finance and Corporate Support	HR Network	2015	HR Manager of the Year	(included in £2200 above)	Finalist – ceremony 12/11/15
79.	Place	APSE	2015	APSE Local Authority Apprentice & Trainee Awards Highways & Street lighting  .	£114.50 Travel fees only	finalist
80.	Place	Cost Sector Catering Awards	2015	Healthcare Award FM	£954 £577.41 – flights £376.59 - accommodation	Runner up. One event for 3 awards. 2x Facilities Management Staff & Service Manager included within FM costs.
81.	Place	Cost Sector Catering Awards	2015	Marketing Award FM	Costs included in number 80.	Runner up
82.	Place	Cost Sector Catering Awards	2015	Team of the Year FM	Costs included in number 80.	Runner up
83.	Finance and Corporate Support	HR Enterprise Awards	2015	HR Team of the year	£190 excl VAT
84.	Finance and Corporate Support	CIPD Marketing & Recruitment Awards	2015	Best Employer Brand	£140
85.	Place	Scottish Property Awards	2015	Town Centre Regeneration Project of the Year	£0	Winner North Ayrshire Council in partnership with Irvine Bay Regeneration and Architect Austin-Smith:Lord. No cost for Housing Services.
86.	Corporate	Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards	2015	Most Improved Council	£6924.47 ·          £465 (design) ·          £3,180 (table/seats) ·          £3,279.47 (flights/accommodation -11 people)	finalist
87.	Finance and Corporate Support	European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards	2015	Best Complaint Handling Team	£6,026.85 ·          £3,339.14 (travel/accommodation) ·          £2,500 (table/hospitality) ·          £187.71 (subsistence)	silver
88.	Finance and Corporate Support	European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards	2015	Best Improvement Strategy	(included in above)	gold
89.	Finance and Corporate Support	National GO Awards UK	2015/16	Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year Award	£1,014 Travel £252 Accom £366 Part-Table / Dinner / Ceremony £396 4 staff attended	finalist
90.	Corporate	Municipal Journal (MJ)	2015	Best Achieving Council	£8589.71 ·          £437.50(design) ·          £15 (Printing) ·          £250 (video editing) ·          £385 (design) ·          £4,200 (2 tables at awards ceremony) ·          £37.50 Reprint of infographic poster) ·          £3,264.71 ( wards dinner – travel costs)
91.	Corporate	Municipal Journal (MJ)	2015	Senior Management Team of the Year	£0
92.	Place	APSE	2015	Apprentice of the Year	£0	Duplicate of line 44
93.	Place	Duke of Gloucester Young Achievers Award	2015	Surveying Award	£3381.22 ·          £1082.92(Flights) ·          £708.30 (Hotel) ·          £1590 (award ceremony)	Joint winner
94.	Place	City of Glasgow College	2014	Plastering Advanced Craft Apprentice of the Year	£0	Winner No costs involved
95.	Place	APSE	2014	Building and Housing Apprentice of the Year	£2391 ·          £1170 (travel) ·          £1221 (hotel/seminar)	Finalist Laurence Owens Martin Elder Apprentice ceremony places free of charge, charges are for  others attending with apprentices for the conference total fee, no breakdown
96.	Place	CITB (Construction Industry Training Board	2014	Skillbuild National Heat for Construction Industry Trainees (Plastering)	£0	Finalist Fees paid by college
97.	Place	CITB (Construction Industry Training Board	2014	Skillbuild Regional Heat for Construction Industry Trainees (Plastering)	£0	Runner up Fees paid by college
98.	Place	The Incorporation of Masons of Glasgow	2014	Certificate of Excellence Award - Plastering	£0	Winner Fees paid by college
99.	Place	Keep Scotland Beautiful	2014	Rural Seaside Award	£0	Award No costs involved
100.	Place	Marine Conservation Society	2014	Recommended Water Quality	£0	award
101.	Economy and Communities	COSLA	2015	Service Innovation and Improvement	£0	bronze
102.	Place	COSLA	2015	Securing a Workforce for the Future	£0	Bronze Awarded - no ceremony held just the award No costs involved
103.	Place	COSLA	2015	Strong and Sustainable Communities	£876.25 ·          £876 ( hotel accommodation/dinner/ceremony)	gold
104.	Place	Cost Sector Catering Awards	2014	Health & Nutrition Award	£318	finalist
105.	Place	Cost Sector Catering Awards	2014	Corporate Responsibility Award	£318
106.	Place	APSE Service Awards	2014	Best Housing and Regeneration Initiative	Total fees for APSE awards in 2014 was £5367.93 Council wide	Finalist
107.	Place	CIWM Awards for Environmental Excellence	2013	Local Authority Waste Hierarchy	£2389.77	finalist
108.	Place	Zero Waste Awards	2014	Applying the Waste Hierarchy	£0	Silver No attendance
109.	Place	24 Housing Awards	2014	Affordable Housing Scheme	£2128.3	shortlisted
110.	Economy and Communities	Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning	2014	Delivering in Partnership	£0	commended
111.	Place	Scottish Rural Parliament	2014	Rural Innovator Award for Transport & Infrastructure	£330	winner
112.	Place	Scottish Education Awards	2014	Education Supporter of the Year	£0	Winner No costs involved
113.	Place	ASSIST Facilities Management	2014	Scottish School Crossing Patrol Officer of the Year	£99	winner
114.	Place	APSE Service Awards	2014	Best Street Cleansing and Streetscene Service Team of the Year	£0	Winner See 106
115.	Place	Cost Sector Catering Awards	2014	Team of the Year	£139	winner
116.	Place	Cost Sector Catering Awards	2014	Chef of the Year	£320	winner
117.	Corporate	Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives	2014	Healthy Working Lives Gold Award	£0	winner
118.	Place	Scottish Home Awards	2014	Rural Development of the Year	£1200	Winner Price per table
119.	Place	Scottish Home Awards	2014	Senior Living Development of the Year	£0	Winner Se 118
120.	Place	Scottish Resources	2014	Best Partnership Initiative (Waste)	£332	winner
121.	Finance and Corporate Support	National GO Awards Scotland	2014/15	Team of the Year Award - Local Authorities	£950 Table of 10	Highly commended
122.	Place	APSE Annual Service Awards	2015	Best Partnership Working Initiative (a) Public / Private Partnership Working.	£0	Finalist See 52
123.	Place	APSE Network Awards	2015	Best Performer category Roads Highways and Winter Maintenance	£2790.00	Finalist Ceremony Incl 124-127 3 December 2015
124.	Place	APSE Network Awards	2015	Best Performer category Transport Operations and Vehicle Maintenance	£0	Finalist Ceremony See 123 3 December 2015
125.	Place	APSE Network Awards	2015	Most Improved Performer category Education Catering	£0	Finalist Ceremony See 123 3 December 2015
126.	Place	APSE Network Awards	2015	Most Improved Performer’ category Building Cleaning	£0	Finalist Ceremony See 123 3 December 2015
127.	Place	APSE Network Awards	2015	Most Improved Performer category Building Maintenance	£0	Finalist Ceremony See 123 3 December 2015
		TOTAL COSTS			£68207.63
		Average Cost per Award			£541.33

Democracy and North Ayrshire Council.

Sometimes what first appears as something trivial becomes a bigger issue. Member of the opposition had been concerned about the amount the council was spending attending awards events. While it was good to see staff being acknowledged for good work on a national stage, we were concerned about the cost to the council of, large numbers of staff being out of the office for two days, their flights and being accommodated in central London for example.

An independent councillor from Ardrossan asked for a list of the events attended and for the corresponding costs as a written question to the SNP  Finance Portfolio holder at a council meeting. The SNPs Ruth Maguire said she was unable to provide the information at the time but would ask officers to provide it to members following the meeting. Subsequently a list was provided but it did not seem to be complete and pictures of staff attending awards were featuring in council press releases but not in the list provided. The total costs of which were claimed as £50,000 at that point. As it seemed obvious that the list was not comprehensive Councillor McNicol decided to ask for further clarification at the next council meeting on November 4th.
Surprisingly the administration claimed that asking for the full information was a repeat "item of business" and could not be considered again for 6 months unless the council suspended standing orders. (Standing orders are basically the rules which apply to council meetings). At the council meeting we questioned this ruling as it was clear to most people that a question is not a decision or ruling of the council which this rule was meant to prevent changing. However the SNP Provost took the advice of the Chief Executive (incorrectly in the view of most, the chief legal officer was not present) and ruled that the question was out of order and we would have to have a vote to see if the question was allowed to be asked. According to the rules a suspension of standing orders requires 2/3 of those "present and voting" to agree to suspend. Members requested a roll call vote which requires that each member publicly declares their vote 17 members, including all Labour representatives,voted in favour of suspension and all 12 SNP chose to abstain. The chief executive claimed, incorrectly according to the rules of most organisations, that the motion fell as those abstaining had voted and this view was supported by the SNP Provost. Organisations the world over would not include abstentions in this position however the officers of North Ayrshire took a contrary position and the information was withheld. Some councillors were so disgusted that they walked out at this point and took no further part in the meeting.

I asked for the councils monitoring officer to review the conduct of the meeting and unfortunately, again contrary to most legal opinions, chose to support the Chief Executives view.

So why is this an issue, well fundamentally councillors are there to represent the interest of their constituents and should be able to gain the information they need to ensure that the priorities and interests of North Ayrshire residents are the prime focus of the council and its staff. Whether by accident or design the information provided was either incomplete or incorrect and councillors were prevented from getting the accurate information they asked for. At the meeting members were allowed to ask a number of other questions, and the written answers provided to two of the them was incorrect. We are in the position of the administration continually making mistakes in the day job while chasing awards at night.