Reading council has been slammed for spending more than £4,500 on food during this year’s mayor-making ceremony.
Each May, a Reading Borough Council meeting is held at the Town Hall to elect a new mayor and make committee appointments.
This year, councillor Paul Gittings (Labour, Coley) was made Mayor, with cllr Amjad Tarar (Labour, Battle) serving as his deputy.
After the ceremony, a reception with food and drink for councillors, guests and performers is held.
The amount spent this year was £4,598.
The figure has been revealed by Rob White (Green, Park), the leader of the main opposition party on the council.
This year, opposition councillors from the Green Party, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats all chose not to attend the reception.
Cllr White said: “The Green Party believes public spending should reflect the realities facing local people, especially when the council is asking residents to pay more while services remain under pressure.
“We have suggested a simple alternative. Rather than providing free hospitality, councillors and their guests could pay for their own refreshments, or the event could become a fundraiser with proceeds donated to Reading’s food bank.
“A civic occasion should celebrate local democracy, but it should also reflect the challenges many families face.
“The Green Party believes that small decisions like this matter because they show how seriously we take the responsibility of looking after taxpayers’ money.
“Every saving can help protect frontline services or support residents who need help the most.”
The spend was £268 less than the £4,866 spent in 2025.
A council spokesperson said: “The annual Mayor Making ceremony is an opportunity to thank guests, our incredible community and voluntary sector organisations, charities, and key partners for their enormous and often unseen contribution to everyday life in our town. It is about Civic pride, local democracy, celebrating our town’s communities and about representing Reading.
“The council does not consider the relatively modest cost of hospitality for this once-a-year event an extravagant outlay in return.
“We are of course always looking at ways to minimise costs, and for this year’s event the cost of food and drink is a reduction on last year’s figure. There are then additional costs for payment to town hall staff and the venue, but it’s important to emphasise those are internal transfers of money between council departments, so that money remains in council budgets.
“Every year the Mayor of Reading raises thousands of pounds for their chosen charities, and Mayor making event plays an important role in raising the profile of the Mayor’s charities, which this year are ABC to Read, Sport in Mind and Refugee Support Group. People can contribute to these charities by Our Mayor – Reading Borough Council.
“The Mayor of Reading will additionally support hundreds of events during his Mayoral year at the invitation of community groups across the town and is widely welcomed by organisations everywhere. The council is of the strong opinion the contribution the Mayor of Reading makes to our communities every single year should be, and generally is, widely commended and that the Mayoral role should be valued and not cheapened through the false pretence that this is somehow an extravagant event.”
The meeting saw a performance by the Ukrainian choir Kryla while cllrs Gittings and Tarar were privately sworn in as mayor and deputy mayor.
The Greens were the first group to not consume the food at the AGM last year.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has attended the AGM and reception since 2022.
