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Dundee lord provost’s ‘jet-setting’ called into question

The Capitol, Washington, DC
The Capitol, Washington, DC

Opposition politicians have questioned the costs of sending Dundee’s lord provost on foreign trips.

Bob Duncan, his wife and a council officer flew to Frankfurt for the Mozart Festival in May 2013 and then to Washington to attend a Scottish Christmas Walk, with a combined bill to the taxpayer of £2,361.52.

Opposition councillors have criticised the bill, claiming that in times of austerity when the council is trying to cut expenditure such trips cannot be justified.

Lib Dem councillor Fraser Macpherson said: “We are living in challenging times and the budget has to be very carefully constrained.

“I am keen to see our twinned cities supported, but we have to be careful to minimise travel and expenditure as well as hospitality for the council.”

Labour councillor Brian Gordon said: “I would always oppose gross expenditure of this nature, and all should go through the appropriate committee.

“In times such as these I would always oppose things like this, as we’re cutting public services that some residents of our city rely on he should not be jet-setting.”

Conservative Derek Scott said: “I’m very much against money being spent on sending councillors to conferences and other unnecessary expenditure, but I think it is reasonable for our civic head, during their term of office, to support a small number of events hosted by our twin cities as it reaffirms our ties with them.”

Questions were asked about whether cheaper travel alternatives could be found.

A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “The costs for these flights, as with every similar request to attend events in any of our twin cities, were approved by the city council.

“The flights were taken by the lord provost, Mrs Duncan and a council officer in economy class.

“Invitations to the two events were for three people. Accommodation and expenses while the delegates were attending were met by the hosts.”

FACT-FINDING DOESN’T COME CHEAP

Over the last two years local authorities across Scotland have spent more than £2.6 million in flying dignitaries around the world.

Las Vegas, Rio, Miami, Dubai and Tokyo were among locations visited by council officials in 2013 and 2014.

One of the flights was to Malawi on an aid mission, costing £10,000 20 times the average income in the country and a sum that could have purchased 3,000 anti-malaria nets.

Aberdeen City Council racked up the most overseas air miles, with a number of foreign trips that included Rio, New York, Mumbai and Las Vegas, costing taxpayers £219,693.

Clackmannanshire Council used the public purse to fund a week-long holiday in Tenerife for four staff and three children from a care home, at a cost of more than £2,000.

Edinburgh Council sent employees to the Cannes film festival.

All the island councils, the Western Isles and Orkney and Shetland, saw the highest spending, but the majority of the flights were between the islands and the mainland.

A spokesman pointed out it was “hardly surprising” given the geography of the area.