by political editor Paul Francis

pfrancis@thekmgroup.co.uk

Spending on awards ceremonies reported by the KM Group last week was justified, insists a senior councillor.

Asked if he would understand if people were angered by the disclosures, Cllr Roger Gough (Con), KCC cabinet member for corporate services, said: "We will always understand taxpayers' concerns.

"The important thing is that our legal services run as a commercial business and brought in £1.5m last year.

"This was about thanking staff, many of whom were quite junior and had gone the extra mile.

"Legal services brings in more money than it costs and makes a positive contribution to the KCC budget."

And in a message sent to all KCC staff following our coverage, group managing director Katherine Kerswell said there should be no apology for celebrating the work staff had done.

Read what our bloggers have to say about it here

"I believe that staff who have gone the extra mile should be thanked for their hard work," she said.

"We have a right to be proud of legal services' achievements last year and we should make no apology that we celebrated their success. In a similar way, the finance team had done sterling work and their director felt that should be recognised."

It was a shame, she added, that the media could not understand that.