Ratepayers should not be left footing the bill after a council paid £1,500 for a table at a DUP fundraising dinner in breach of its own policy, TUV leader Jim Allister has said.

The event, hosted by North Antrim MP Ian Paisley and attended by top Tory Michael Gove, was held at the Tullyglass Hotel outside Ballymena in September 2017.

Last week an internal report by the NI Audit Office revealed that Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has a policy limiting spending on attending gala dinners and events to £500.

“If the Audit Office has found that Mid and East Antrim Borough Council breached its own rules in paying £1,500 to attend the Paisley dinner, then when and where will we see the accountability?” Mr Allister asked.

“Who is going to take responsibility for the breach of rules and recompense the ratepayers for £1,500 irregularly paid out?

“That is a question I would like answered without any ducking and diving.

“If £1,500 of ratepayers’ money was paid out improperly, then why should the ratepayers stand the loss?”

The Audit Office report, seen by the Belfast Telegraph, says the council “did not discuss its attendance at the dinner in line with this policy”.

The council has undertaken to review its policy on attendance at gala dinners and will consider the approach taken by other local authorities.

However, the proposed new policy does not specify spending limits.

Sinn Fein councillor Patrice Hardy has previously said when she initially raised concerns that ratepayers’ money may have been used to fund the DUP, they were dismissed by the council.

“I was forced to submit Freedom of Information requests and to ask the Electoral Commission to intervene, simply to try and get answers as to how ratepayers’ money was being used by the council,” she said.

Ms Hardy added that “if it is the case that council officers knowingly breached their own policy in order to pay this money, that is a very serious matter”.

Under Electoral Commission rules, local authorities are not considered “permissible donors” to political parties.

Money from such bodies must be returned.

The council said in a statement last night: “Elected members at full council in August 2017 agreed, without objection, to purchase this table and the event was attended by elected members from different political parties, senior officers and representatives from the agri-food sector across the borough to avail of the opportunity to discuss first-hand with the minister their issues and concerns in relation to the agri-food sector post-Brexit.

“Council was requested to make payment to the Tullyglass Hotel and did so electronically.”

Causeway Coast and Glens Council also paid £1,500 for a table at the dinner.

Belfast Telegraph