The debate on Monmouthshire's hospitality budget took a turn last week, as Monmouthshire County Council was further criticised for its lack of financial transparency and accused of not having correct categories for expenditure

Speaking at a full meeting of the authority Labour leader Councillor Dimitri Batrouni put forward a suggestion to cap the council's hospitality budget at £10,000, but was criticised by administration for his claims in the media regarding the excessive nature of the hospitality expenses.

Councillor Robert Greenland said, "Many of the items on the list were not hospitality expenses, and I noticed this after looking at it for five minutes. Councillor Batrouni should have noticed this, but instead just went ahead with releasing figures he knew were wrong to the press and public.

"The actual total of the hospitality budget stands at £8,600, not the outrageous £67,000 as originally stated by Councillor Batrouni."

Despite Councillor Greenland's claims that the actual amount spent was much lower than the Labour group had previously stated, several councillors spoke out regarding the extravagant examples of actual hospitality that had taken place on the council's budget, including the infamous instances of 'canapes and Pimms' that have been circulating on social networks.

In response to Councillor Batrouni's initial motion, Councillor Sara Jones rejected the motion and instead proposed to cap the hospitality budget at £8,500.

But some councillors were concerned with the apparent misrepresentation of hospitality figures.

Councillor Frances Taylor said, "If figures 'suggest' £67,000 was spent on hospitality, then this itself is a problem. If this confusion could arise it is indicative of MCC not having proper cost codes."

Councillor Debby Blakebrough agreed with this point, and applauded Councillor Batrouni for looking at the figures and recognising a problem.

The amendment to cap the hospitality expenses at £8,500 was accepted and will be included in the 2014/15 budget, and councillors insisted that more care be placed on correctly labelling expenses into correct categories and cost codes to avoid this in future.

After being asked to apologise for his statement in the press and the misrepresentation of figures, Councillor Batrouni responded, "I hope this makes us and other councils really look at all of our expenses.

" I will not say sorry for forcing officers to take a good hard look at how they present all of our expenditure, and in reality, doing their job."