Almost £270k of Glasgow taxpayers' money spent on Council hotel stays in three years

Almost £270,000 of taxpayers' money has been spent on overnight accommodation for councillors and council staff in just three years.

Since 2017 the money has been used to fund business trips which will benefit council activity and those who live in Glasgow.

In 2017 some £99,290 was spent on hotel stays. The figure increased to £110,460 in 2018 and dropped to £59,944 in 2019.

The shortest stay was one night and the longest, which saw a humanitarian aid visit to Malawi, was 12 nights.

Since 2004 the local authority has been a part of the Scotland Malawi partnership to help the people access education and healthcare.

Every year in September the Lord Provost’s international officer travels to Malawi to carry out charitable work, with other officers, as part of the local authority’s continuing commitment to help the people of Malawi.

No elected members have been since 2014 when former Lord Provost Sadie Docherty visited.

The project aims to improve access to modern health facilities. They provide IT equipment, software and technical training to teaching and technical staff in schools, colleges and universities.

Local government staff, as well as medical and administrative staff in hospitals and clinics have also benefitted from the scheme.

Other business trips include ones made on behalf of the licensing committee who have been visiting various different local authorities across the country to establish ways they handle complaints against lincesed taxi and private hire car drivers.

The licensing committee is looking for new ways to prevent taxi drivers and private hire car drivers taking part in criminal offences.

More senior members of the council will visit other cities in the UK and abroad to see how they can better improve lighting, sustainability and connectivity across the city.

There have also been discussions on environmental issues.

Councillors and staff are required to take part in these visits to see what is being done differently across the globe and how effective measures can be implemented in Glasgow.

A source said: “Councillors are ambassadors for the city. If we don’t visit other cities then we can’t replicate successful schemes in Glasgow.

“It is a good use of money and will benefit everyone in the future.”

A council spokeswoman [previously] said: “Councillors carry out a very important job promoting the city and attracting inward investment as well as prestigious cultural and sporting events.

“As elected members they are Glasgow’s ambassadors, raising the profile of the city at home and abroad.

“This can involve domestic and international travel and associated expenditure, which elected members are reimbursed for carrying out their duties, for the benefit of our citizens and the city.”

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