It turns out that the Audit Commission spent £8,000 at the Newmarket Races. (The AC are the body which make sure that councils are spending money wisely).
If there’s a rational explanatation I’ll make sure to update this later.
UPDATE: Here is the statement:
The total amount paid to Newmarket racecourse is for three technical training events the Audit Commission ran for 90 directors of finance and senior finance officers in local government and health to explain how to prepare their statutory accounts for 2009/10. All three events were on non-race days last February and March. An external venue was necessary because we did not have an Audit Commission office in the locality that could cater for the number of delegates and trainers involved. The venue chosen offered best value for money compared to the other alternatives available.’
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey