To entertain or not to entertain - that is the question

The town's French-born Mayor Cllr Patrick Douart led a party of Bexhill councillors and guests on a friendship trip his old home area of St Aubin de Medoc in Bordeaux last weekend.

At the Charter Trustees' last meeting, the Mayor had explained that those taking part in the trip would be paying their own travel and accommodation expenses.

It was agreed that no contribution should be made to the trip by the Charter Trustees.

But it was expected that the Bexhill party would receive a degree of hospitality while in France, including collection from the airport and a civic reception and there was discussion about whether the Trustees could legally use their funds for transport and hospitality when Bexhill received a reciprocal visit from St Aubin.

Now Rother chief executive Derek Stevens, in his role as clerk to the Charter Trustees, has set out guidance for Wednesday's meeting.

The Charter Trustees are Rother councillors representing wards in the former borough of Bexhill, which was merged into Rother in 1974.

Their functions are:

*To meet corporately at least once a year

*To elect from among their number a Town Mayor and Deputy

*To continue the civic practices and traditions of the former borough council

*To safeguard the former civic plate and regalia

They have the power to appoint officers and to precept the district council for the cost of their activities to be met from Council Tax on Bexhill residents.

Mr Stevens says of the 1972 and 1992 Local Government Acts: "While ......it indicates the power to continue the 'civic practices and traditions....'. I deem this to relate to the more civic ceremonial practices, rather than the ability to incur expenditure on the range of services once the responsibility of the former borough.

"Clearly, Charter Trustees are therefore not 'empowered' to spend on the provision of services to their residents beyond the cost of maintaining the Charter Trustee body itself.

"It is my view, however, that it would be acceptable to incur expenditure on 'civic' related events beyond the annual mayor-making ceremony.

"Indeed, there is a precedence to the extent that the Charter Trustees provided the funding for Millennium Celebrations and the centenary of the Charter Trustees.

"Trustees therefore need to consider whether or not they wish to provide funding to support a visit to Bexhill by the mayor and councillors of St Aubin de Medoc, and if so, how much it would be for."