The wagons were circled as Hampshire County Council chiefs defended an overseas trip by a colleague.

Executive member for social services, Felicity Hindson, spent nearly £9,000 touring New Zealand with senior officer, Steve Love.

Mrs Hindson and her Tory colleagues believe it was good value, saying Hampshire could learn from methods Down Under, although leader, Ken Thornber, reiterated that, in line with council policy, all future foreign fact-finding trips would be closely scrutinised.

Opposition members had questioned if Mrs Hindson had to go and if the lessons could not be learnt closer to home.

On Tuesday Mrs Hindson and Mr Love presented their findings to cabinet members. The report stated that New Zealand had reduced its number of children in care from 10,000 in the late 1980s to 1,500 by the mid-1990s.

Mrs Hindson told members that 1,000 youngsters were in care in Hampshire at an average annual cost of £50,000 per child.

Mr Love said that when a major decision was taken on a vulnerable child's future in New Zealand, a meeting was held with family members, by law. "The whole ethos is to support families to find their own solutions," he added.

The report recommends greater use of Family Group Conferences in Hampshire, which are not mandatory in the UK. Other suggestions include an exchange programme between staff in New Zealand and Hampshire.

"To have the possibility of an exchange with somebody from New Zealand would be an inducement to recruitment and retention," said Mrs Hindson.

The report also suggests a social services call centre for the county, similar to a national scheme in New Zealand. Mr Love is now compiling a second report on how the proposals could be implemented.

Council deputy leader, Michael Woodhall, praised the results of the trip. "I'm going to suggest that's the best £8,834 we've spent in the last year in terms of what it is likely to achieve."

Executive member for education, Don Allen, added: "Anyone making suggestions this wasn't money well spent is barking up the wrong tree."

Lib Dem group leader, Adrian Collett, called for greater "transparency" in overseas travel, saying the NZ trip incurred suspicion, as its purpose was not publicised in advance.

Council leader, Ken Thornber, responded that his predecessor, Mike Hancock, a Liberal Democrat, went overseas many times.

Mr Thornber joked with his Tory colleagues: "We never knew where Mike Hancock was, did we?"

The report stated Mrs Hindson and Mr Love had already repaid £2,037 to council coffers after flying to New Zealand and back in business class.

Mrs Hindson also decided to extend her NZ for a personal visit. After the meeting she said her contribution was to cover air ticket upgrades and personal costs and was nothing unusual.