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Central Beds Council spends £226k on travel expenses in a single month
Nearly £900,000 has been spent on recompensing staff at Central Beds for travel in six months
Following a Freedom of Information request by the Times and Citizen, it was revealed that Central Bedfordshire Council spent 898,932.95 between January and June on staff travel costs.
That is the equivalent of more than 307 per member of staff employed by the authority in April 2009.
The authority says the high figure is due to a major programme of reducing office space that will save the taxpayer 1million over the next four years.
But Lib Dem Councillor Peter Blaine branded the excessive spend a "waste of council tax payers' money."
He said: "This just shows how much of council taxpayers' money they have wasted through insufficient planning at Central Beds' inception.
They should have sorted out the offices a lot sooner than this."
Central Beds Council was created in April 2009 in a shake-up of
Bedfordshire's local government, when Beds County Council was abolished.
The figures also reveal that 21 redundancies have been made since then, costing the council 257,242.
And 133,636 has been spent on the Gypsy and Traveller consultations since 2006. Councillor Maurice Jones, portfolio holder for finance, governance and people at Central Beds said: "We have had to move some staff to offices which are further away from their homes.
"As a result of employment terms and conditions, we have an obligation to recompense staff affected for a maximum four year term. Staff moves started in June and will be complete by August."
The council promised it would look at a number of initiatives to reduce the increase, including telephone conferencing.
Turn to the next page to see the full breakdown of answers.
What was the council tax charge for Band D properties in the following years in Mid Beds and South Beds? (Excluding the costs of any town, parish council or fire precepts) 2006-07/ 06-07/ 07-08/ 08-09 in Mid Beds and South Beds. (Figures for each authority) 09-10 in Central Beds?
Mid Bedfordshire District Council 2006/07 - 99.84 2007/08 -
104.73; 2008/09 - 109.23
South Bedfordshire District Council 2006/07 - 149.52; 2007/08 -
153.99; 2008/09 - 158.59
Central Bedfordshire Council 2009/10 - Former MBDC area
1,264.09; Former SBDC area 1,313.45
What were councillors' basic allowances in the following years in Mid
Beds and South Beds?
Years: 2006-07/07-08/08-09 in Mid Beds and South Beds (figures for
each authority) 09-10 in Central Beds?
Mid Bedfordshire District Council 2006/07 - 5992; 2007/08 -
6208; 2008/09 - 6450.
South Bedfordshire District Council 2006/07 - 2970.68; 2007/08
3300.46; 2008/09 - 3426 + ICT Allowance 412 = 38380
Central Bedfordshire Council 2009/10 - 10,259.69
How many staff were employed by Central Beds as of April 1 2009?
2922 (excluding schools staff & casual staff)
How much money is spent on recompensing staff for travel costs in each of these months? January 2010/ Feb 2010/ March 2010/ April 2010/ May 2010/ June 2010
Jan 2010 - 121,399.89
Feb 2010 - 99,715.88
Mar 2010 - 157,808.50
Apr 2010 - 158,333.77
May 2010 - 134,886.11
June 2010 - 226,788.80
How much money has been spent on the gypsy and traveller consultation since it was first launched by Mid Beds District Council in 2006?
Stage of Gypsy and Traveller Development Plan Document Cost
Gypsy and Traveller Needs Assessment
(2005 – 2006) 27,951.25
Issues and Options (March 2007) 4063.25
Second Issues and Options (October 2007) 2900
Preferred Options (November 2008) 76507.65
Preferred Sites (April 2010) 7115.4
Temporary Staff 15,099
Total 133,636.55
How many redundancies have been made since April 1, 2009 and how
much has it cost the authority?
21 redundancies - cost 257,242.80
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