A ruthless catering review has been called for to stop taxpayers shelling out £14 for each plate of biscuits eaten by councillors.

The Argus revealed last month a storm was brewing at Brighton and Hove City Council over catering charges.

Members were told a plate of biscuits at council meetings costs £14 while each bottle of water works out at £2.80 and a litre of orange juice £3.50.

Now city councillors will be asked to cut the amount of refreshments they take - or even bring their own.

The charges are made under an eight-year catering contract with Ecovert South, now EML, which is currently being reviewed and ends at the end of March next year.

Finance councillor Simon Burgess said: "I am hoping councillors will agree to less in refreshments for all but the longest meetings. I would like to be pretty ruthless about it.

"People always have the option of bringing their own biscuits at a time when we are trying to keep down costs."

The council is trying to fill an £18 million hole in its budget by putting tax bills up by 14.5 per cent this year, taking the average Band D charge from £922 to £1,073.

News of the refreshment charges led to some members branding the cost a scandal.

But a council spokesman said yesterday: "The controversy over the cost of biscuits arose because Simon Burgess had started that process.

"He wanted to take a closer look at details of the contract to see if he could get cross-party support for saving money in any parts of it.

"We're not taking any specific action because of the biscuits issue. But you can rest assured catering will be one of the things that will get close attention when the new contract is negotiated - whoever that's with.

"The contract isn't being reviewed because of the biscuits issue. It's the other way round. The biscuits issue arose because the contract is being reviewed."

Ecovert also runs catering at council outlets including the staff canteen at King's House, the authority's headquarters, with few complaints.

Other contracts run by Ecovert which are also coming to an end include grounds maintenance and leisure, including swimming pools.

At one time Ecovert also had a contract for refuse collection in Brighton but this was awarded to Sita before the council eventually decided to take it over.

There are strict rules governing council contracts which have to be widely advertised to ensure there is a good choice.

EML failed to comment.

Wednesday November 05, 2003