I sometimes think it can be justified for Councils to spend money on alcohol. For instance the Mayor providing a annual reception for school governors – who often work hard and are unpaid – would be reasonable both to reward them and to find out their views. It would also be far cheaper then this endless brain washing masquerading as "training" which is inflicted on them.
But Cllr Terry Dicks, a former outspoken Tory MP and now an outspoken Tory county councillor in Surrey, surely has a point in criticising the spending £10,000 on a "booze up" for councillors, chief executives and other local big shots. Reading this account in the Surrey Advertiser this sounds like one of those "The funding’s coming from central government so we may as well spend it" instances. Tory councils would do better exposing such waste rather than participating in it.