8:48am Wednesday 5th May 2010
By Gavin Aitchison
NEARLY £6,000 of York taxpayers’ money was spent flying the city’s Lord Mayor and a support officer business class, so they could beat the volcanic ash cloud.
Officials say they had a “duty” to get Coun John Galvin and his aide back from China as soon as possible. But the move has sparked a political row.
The trip, aimed at promoting York as a business and visitor centre, was meant to cost city taxpayers nothing, but the council paid for two business- class flights at £2,852 each. They said it would be “unreasonable” to make the pair wait for the next economy flights, which could have been as late as this Saturday.
Instead, they returned to York on April 24, flying 5,182 miles from Beijing to Manchester via Amsterdam, with Dutch airline KLM.
Coun Galvin defended the decision, saying it may have cost more to leave them to catch the later flight.
Deputy Lord Mayor Brian Watson said: “The trip was meant to be at no cost to the city. What I can’t understand is why did a duty of care issue arise when he was being looked after and no risk existed both to himself or anyone else? If anything, there was a greater risk being flown back.”
He said it was “hard to believe” the cash-strapped council could pay out so much on flights when many events and services had faced cuts.
Coun Galvin said it was “disgraceful” for the issue to be made political and said he was “appalled” by Coun Watson’s comments.
He said: “It would have meant the Lord Mayor and a member of staff essentially being in limbo in Beijing for an additional fortnight – and at what cost?
“It may well have ended up costing the council more than it did getting us home.
“Also, we both had commitments and our wives were both at home.”
A council spokeswoman said the trip was due to last five days, and would have lasted an extra 20 had chief executive Kersten England not approved the new flights.
She said: “After much consideration, it was decided that it would be unreasonable to leave the Lord Mayor and support officer for such a long period, particularly given the considerable additional accommodation and food costs associated with the extended stay, and the inconvenience and distress for those concerned and their families.”
She said staff and travel agents tried to find alternative deals and said the Lord Mayor also had a number of duties to perform in York, including a citizenship ceremony, a civic dinner in the Mansion House, and acting as the returning officer for tomorrow’s General Election.
The original return flights were paid for by outside organisations, and cost £607.50 each.
The council’s insurance was unlikely to cover the new tickets, but the authority hoped to recoup some costs from the airline.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/trade_directory/