Council facing cuts ponders £34,000 wardrobe upgrade

The current stock of civic regalia at Hull Council has become so depleted additional robes have had to be borrowed from another authority.

But the council is now planning to upgrade its wardrobe while spreading the cost over 10 years.

As well as providing robes and hats for elected members, the authority also supplies green robes for honorary aldermen and a further 17 of these are needed at a cost of £9,350.

Based on the current complement of elected members and honorary aldermen, an additional 47 bicorn hats and 12 tricorn hats are needed, costing £15,340.

The council, which is facing cuts of £55m, plans to buy six hats each year for the next five years, while also considering whether bicorn hats can be worn by both male and female members.

But it would take 10 years to achieve its full complement of blue robes as it intends to purchase three a year at a cost of £1,650 a year, which would see it miss the chance of a five per cent discount for orders of four or more.

However, in a nod to the tough financial times the authority is at least considering cutting some of its cloth. A report to the civic committee said: “As an alternative to purchasing shorter robes a number of existing robes could be altered as necessary, which currently happens with the Lord Mayor’s robes.”

The report also recommends a new storage system for hats, “as they are currently stored in plastic bags which are inadequate for keeping them in a wearable condition”.

An inventory taken in October shows only 35 of the 51 blue robes needed were in good repair, as were only 13 of the 30 green robes required. There was, however, a surplus of red robes – with 12 in good repair and only eight elected members entitled to wear them.

Councillors at the 59-member authority are expected to wear robes while attending at least seven civic events each year.