Telly favourite Nick was paid £2,000 to host council awards
NICK Owen earned £2,000 plus expenses for an evening’s work hosting an awards ceremony for Warwickshire County Council staff.
The veteran BBC presenter was paid the sum plus expenses by the local authority for compering its event recognising long-servers.
Mr Owen is one of four celebrities who have each been paid £2,000 for hosting the ceremony and presenting the awards.
Dancer Wayne Sleep, actress and film producer Vicki Michelle and former Olympic athlete Roger Black have also taken turns heading the event.
BBC Midlands Today presenter Mr Owen hosted the function in 2018, also claiming £50 in travel costs, a response to a Freedom of Information Act request shows.
Mr Sleep stepped in last year and Ms Michelle in 2015, while Black took the stage two years running from 2016. Mr Black’s travel expenses came to £700 for both years, followed by Mr Sleep’s claim for £300 and Ms Michelle’s for £100, the document shows.
In response to the question of whether any of the celebrities asked for the amount to be paid to charity, Warwickshire County Council has replied ‘not applicable’ in each case.
Each celebrity was hired to ‘host and present awards at Long Service Awards,’ the document states. The figures have been disclosed as councils come under pressure to cut back on hiring famous faces for events amid years of austerity measures and widespread cost-cutting and redundancies.
Research by the Taxpayers’ Alliance shows some town halls are cutting back on payments for celebrity appearances. Coventry City Council did not pay for Christmas lights switch-ons between 2016 and 2017, instead leaving the responsibility to Coventry BID, according to the campaign group.
Elsewhere, Leeds City Council said that it hires most celebrities for free at the festive events.
Britain’s Got Talent stars Boogie Storm, who were paid £2,000 in 2016 and £2,300 in 2017 to appear in the city, have been among the exceptions. Cbeebies presenters have also earned single payments not exceeding £1,500 over six years, amounting to a combined £7,250 between 2014 and 2018. Such costs have drawn criticism from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, which has accused councils of “gifting taxpayers’ money to showbiz agents”.
But the long-service awards presenters are still a long way behind the top-earning celebrities in Coventry and Warwickshire.
They include Maximo Park, who took home £22,500 for appearing at the Godiva Festival in July 2013, and the Happy Mondays, who made £25,000 for their appearance the following year, according to separate figures released by Coventry City Council under the Act.
A spokesperson for Warwickshire County Council said: “The long service awards are our way of saying thank you to those committed and loyal staff who have, for over 25 years, delivered outstanding public services to Warwickshire residents.
“We consider that the modest amount that we spend on this event also delivers wider organisational benefits around staff morale and motivation which is crucial at a time when the sector as a whole faces financial uncertainty.”
We consider that the modest amount we spend on this event also delivers wider benefits around staff morale.
Other headliners... Roger Black, Vicki Michelle and Wayne Sleep