Dozens of senior civil servants racked up a bill of over £170,000 in taxpayer's money on an alcohol-fuelled trip to the French Riviera in March.
Over 60 officials spent three days at the annual Mipim real estate conference in Cannes, according to the Daily Mail, which has been known for it's "boozy bashes".
The Department for Business and Trade spent over £77,000 sending 10 mandarins to the event, according to a Freedom of Information requests made by the TaxPayers' Alliance.
Callum McGoldrick, investigations campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Local government's annual soiree to the French Riviera gets more insulting with each passing year.
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"With residents struggling through a long, difficult winter, council staff are in the south of France toasting their near universal failure to hold down council tax bills.
"Councils need to urgently stop these boozy bashes."
Mipim real estate conference is the most significant property gathering on the planet, and is a networking event for professionals such as lawyers, bankers, developers, agents and landlords.
However, it has quickly garnered a reputation for it's boozy nature.
Dozens of senior civil servants racked up a bill of over £170,000 in taxpayer's money on an alcohol-fuelled trip to the French Riviera in March
|PA
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One past attendee jovially told the Mail that "important meets must be done in the morning" as "afternoons can turn to chaos once the rose starts to flow".
Another previous attendee said: "I'm not sure my liver could handle a classic Mipim any more."
Of the councils that attended, the largest bill per head is said to be that of Bury Council, who splurged in excess of £12,000 on one official's trip.
Bury Council claimed this was in order to help attract regeneration and jobs.
The annual Mipim real estate conference in Cannes has been described as a 'boozy bash'
|GETTY
Salford City Council and Newcastle City Council also spent in excess of £10,000.
The networking trip came just weeks before the so-called "Awful April" that saw major rises in taxes and household bills for UK citizens.
Most houses in England faced an increase of up to 4.99 per cent in council tax, while the cap on gas and electricity charges rose by £111, and the average annual Thames Water bill increased by around 31 per cent.
And it is not the first time taxpayers' money has been splashed on trips to the lavish networking trip on the south of France.
In 2023, the TaxPayer's Allowance revealed a total of £138,300 of taxpayers' cash was spent on attending Mipim.
Investigations manager Elliot Keck described it as "difficult to believe" at the time.
In 2024, the Department for Business and Trade racked up the largest bill, splurging an astonishing £123,389 for 18 officials to attend, according to Freedom of Information requests.
The Welsh government also spent £51,046 for just one official to attend the event, Daily Express revealed.
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