COUNTY councillors have defended using taxpayer cash to attend conferences and "away days" across the country and abroad, saying they are useful tools for sharing and developing ideas in local government.
The claim comes after figures showed members of Surrey County Council spent more than £46,000 last year attending conferences, leadership events and site visits in Italy and France.
According to the figures, released to the Mirror following a request made under the Freedom of Information Act, councillors attended 35 of these events in the last 12 months, at a cost of more than £30,000.
The rest of the money was spent on accommodation (£6,396.69), food (£391.11) and travel (£9,242.40).
Among the more expensive trips was the Local Government Association conference in Manchester, which was attended by nine councillors at a cost of £4,455, as well as £2,119.27 on travel and £3,483 on accommodation.
Others included the National Children and Adults Services conference in Harrogate, which was attended by six councillors. They spent £2,700 on attending the event, £173.90 on travel, £101.75 on food and £2,250 on accommodation.
Other trips included a fracking conference in London, which cost £474; a Local Government Association annual culture, tourism and sport conference in Portsmouth (£520); and a leadership academy at Warwick University (£1,122.85).
Foreign visits included a site visit to a waste treatment plant in Bergamo, Italy, which cost £2,714, and a European Regional Development Fund conference in Lyon, France.
Surrey County Council has defended spending money on the trips, saying they result in better services for residents.
Council spokeswoman Joy Ridley said: "Value for money is at the centre of everything we do and we always weigh up the long-term benefits of a conference against the cost.
"Most conferences attended are in specialist fields, such as law or social services, and provide professional development for the officers or councillors concerned.
"They enable staff to acquire knowledge and experience and discover better ways of working which they bring back and share with colleagues to help the council provide the best possible services and value for money for taxpayers."
Hazel Watson, opposition Liberal Democrat group leader on Surrey County Council, also said the conferences and events were legitimate events for councillors to attend.
She said: "I've got no objections to these events. Councillors should attend conferences and seminars and they should attend site visits before making decisions about planning applications. I think, on the face of it, they look reasonable."
But campaign groups rejected the idea that such conferences and events were essential and said councillors should get their priorities right.
Dia Chakravarty, political director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "This is yet another example of councils getting their priorities completely wrong.
"Taxpayers hand over their cash to pay for hospitals, schools and other essential frontline services, not for politicians to waste on away days. The council should really know better."
