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| Jaguar Car Model Selected for Replacement TS1 vehicle for the Lord Provost |
At the Policy and Resources Committee on Monday evening, SNP Councillors forced through the leasing of two expensive new vehicles. These were referred to in the Committee Paper as Civic Cars which means they are chauffeur driven cars. Opposition Councillors were convinced that the Council could manage with one Civic Car principally for the Lord Provost and his Deputes on their official business. We argued that just as staff are now encourgaed to use public transport and walk short journeys, Councillors should do the same. If groups of Councillors need to attend the same event, we argued that under utilised Council minibuses should be used. The SNP Councillors defeated the combined opposition Councillors on this proposal. It seems that the SNP Councillors now in senior positions think they are too important to take the bus or train and need to be ferried round by a chauffeur.
Once this decision has been made, I proposed that:
Effective from the use of the replacement Civic Cars, the usage of each of these vehicles will be recorded. A mileage equivalent rate will be added to the published expenses of elected members who have been passengers. This will not however apply to the use of these vehicles by the Lord Provost and her/his Deputes undertaking official Council duties.
I argued that, while Labour Councillors accept that the use of the chauffeur driven civic cars by The Lord Provost and his deputes is a matter of priority and historic significance we think that any other use of these cars to transport Councillors to meetings and beyond should be properly recorded so that in the future we are in a better position to judge our transport requirements. Additionally, we believe that it is fair that a mileage equivalent rate should be added to the expenses of Councillors who have travelled in the Civic Cars with the exception of journeys undertaken by the Lord Provost and his deputes undertaking their specific civic roles. It is also fair and transparent if these costs are not hidden under a block of expenditure in the Annual Accounts but should be recorded like any other form of transport against the legitimate expenses of elected members. The current arrangement is an anomaly, because the other transport costs that are claimed such as private car mileage and bus and train fares are recorded against the expenses of an individual Councillor. When Councillors call on the use of a chauffeur driven car, it should be reflected in their annual expenses. We believe that there is no such thing as a free chauffeur driven car ride.
Unfortunately for our hard pressed Council Tax payers, the SNP Councillors, the Conservative Councillor and the Liberal Democrat Councillor combined to defeat our proposal. I wonder why they want this wasteful expenditure to be disguised?
