Tickets to see superstar DJ Pete Tong and join Catherine Zeta Jones at an evening function are among the gifts received by council officers in Swansea .
Some officers have been treated to Swansea City football and Glamorgan cricket matches, while another had an evening meal and overnight accommodation at the Novotel in Cardiff courtesy of the Welsh Local Government Assocation.
And this year officers have received 10 gifts from housing tenants – including perfume costing around £90.
Councillors must publicly declare gifts and hospitality worth more than £25, but this is not the case for officers.
Officers must, however, declare them internally to the authority.
A Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporter Service has found that officers declared six gifts and hospitality internally in 2017-18, nine in 2018-19 and 29 between April 1 and November 20, 2019.
These £25-plus treats included an invitation by construction company Interserve to attend a Constructing Excellence in Wales awards night at Newport’s Celtic Manor Resort, worth £100, and two tickets and hospitality from Swansea University to watch the annual Welsh Varsity rugby match, worth £120.
Vodafone, Nathaniel Cars, the Balconiers Cricket Club, and JR Events and Catering were among the organisations listed as having given out tickets and hospitality – but some were also given to officers by councillors.
Global asset managers Aviva Investors generously gave an officer or officers in the finance department a basket of fresh fruit, which was in turn donated to a food bank.
The council’s response added: “We also receive an allocation of tickets as part of a commercial contract with music event promoters where we are a partner in staging and managing a concert in Swansea.”
A spokesman said this amounted to around 20 tickets per year.
The council's gift and hospitality guide for officers and councillors says that offers of hospitality must be approved by a chief officer before they are accepted.
The guide adds that gifts must also be approved, and that any which are refused should be handed back, raffled or shared.
