Senior Birmingham council officers have enjoyed expensive perks including meals at luxury hotels, lunches at Michelin-star restaurants and tickets to top shows.

A Birmingham Post investigation has revealed many firms and organisations that work routinely with the council have been happy to foot the bill for hospitality and gifts despite the tough economic climate.

Dinner at The Savoy in London, a hamper and voucher from Harrods and tickets to the Birmingham Royal Ballet and a Test Match were among scores of gifts accepted by officers.

Favoured restaurant venues for networking events and negotiations include Simpsons and Purnell’s, which have Michelin stars.

Other restaurants noted for good food, including Opus, San Carlos and Cielo, were also popular spots.

The details are contained in the Register of Gifts and Hospitality, which the council has a statutory duty to compile.

The council’s code of conduct states that “lavish or extravagant” hospitality should never be accepted. But no definition of what is deemed to be lavish or extravagant is given.

A council spokeswoman said: “Clearly any interpretation of ‘lavish’ is subjective and, as stated in the code of conduct, the real test is whether accepting a gift or hospitality would be seen as compromising an officer’s role as a public servant.

“We expect the highest standards of our officers and are confident they will use their common sense and good judgment at all times.”

Capita, whose contracts with the council are worth about £1 billion, provided wide-ranging hospitality for city officials.

The firm, which has a controlling interest in the council’s IT arm Service Birmingham, paid for chief executive Stephen Hughes and a guest to attend a champagne reception for the Macmillan charity and dinner at The Savoy.

Mr Hughes also attended the Local Government Chronicle Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel, courtesy of Capita.

He was again the guest of Capita at the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives dinner and champagne reception in Cardiff.

Mr Hughes twice enjoyed dinner and overnight accommodation at Billesley Manor Hotel, Alcester, Warwickshire, with Capita picking up the bill.

Two days after riots tore Birmingham apart, Mr Hughes was at the first day of the England-India Test Match at Edgbaston, with a ticket provided by Marketing Birmingham to “help promote the city to major developers”.

His spokeswoman explained that Mr Hughes only briefly attended the cricket match, where he was able to reassure potential developers that Birmingham remained open for business despite the riots, before rushing back to the Council House for an emergency cabinet meeting.

Mr Hughes accepted two tickets for a concert at Symphony Hall, paid for by Capita.

He was given two tickets for the Birmingham Royal Ballet world premiere of Cinderella, paid for by the Hippodrome Theatre, and two tickets for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, paid for by Marketing Birmingham.

The spokeswoman added: “We are in a long-term relationship with Capita and there are a great number of invitations from a wide range of public and private organisations that the chief executive turns down.”

Paul Dransfield, the council’s strategic director of resources, was one of several city officials to attend a dinner at Simpsons in September last year.

The meal was paid for by contractors Amey. Mr Dransfield said the purpose was to celebrate a £2.5 billion PFI contract that the firm has with the council.

Negotiations over the redevelopment of New Street Station, including a £100 million plan for a John Lewis store, involved Mr Dransfield having three dinners.

The first was with Network Rail at St Pancras Grand Restaurant, London. The second was also with Network Rail at the Malmaison Hotel, Birmingham.

The third dinner was with John Lewis at Opus restaurant in Birmingham.

Sandy Taylor, head of climate change and sustainability, was given a dinner by contractors Arup at San Carlos restaurant in Birmingham to discuss energy retrofitting for cities.

Mr Taylor also attended two dinners at Sartoria Italian restaurant, in London’s Savile Row, paid for by the Climate Change Forum, to talk to energy companies.

Council officials were also given free tickets for concerts, the opera and football matches.

The council’s spokeswoman said: “The Climate Change Forum is supported by a wide range of large businesses in the environment, energy, finance and business fields and is an opportunity to meet senior decision-makers to discuss future energy, environment and climate change policy and initiatives.”

Elaine Elkington, strategic director of housing, enjoyed a race day and lunch with Willmott Dixon Housing and attended a City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra concert courtesy of Service Birmingham.

Mirza Ahmad, corporate director of governance, received a Harrods gift voucher and hamper.

The council has stringent rules regarding the type of hospitality or gifts that officials can accept.

The latest guidance issued by the council says it is inevitable that officers will be offered hospitality, and the more senior they are the higher the test of whether they should accept or refuse will be.

Any council employee accepting gifts or hospitality must give details in the register within seven days.

The guidance goes on: “Hospitality away from Birmingham, extending overnight and of a very prestigious nature, will almost invariably be unacceptable and should be declined with politeness.

“Equally, lavish or extravagant gifts and or hospitality should never be accepted as the same are not compatible with holding public office and may bring public servants and the council into disrepute.”

However, the guidance notes that it is “extremely difficult, if not impossible” to lay down specific sets of rules about precisely what hospitality an officer should or should not accept.

“Without doubt, the important considerations are judgment, discretion, accountability, responsibility and reasonableness to the point where no embarrassment is caused either to the person providing and or receiving the hospitality or to the council through adverse publicity,” the guidance concludes.

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