Birmingham councillor's executive car hire cost taxpayers £2,500
A leading Birmingham city councillor has used thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ cash on chauffeur-driven trips to London in executive cars.
Cabinet member for housing Councillor John Lines, used executive cars to make regular trips to the capital, including a £470 trip to an evening function at the Natural History Museum.
He even used one to take him to a photo shoot in Hodge Hill which cost £58.65 and he left a Birmingham taxi meter running whilst he attended a photo shoot in Sparkhill, costing £35.65.
As well as expensive cars, Coun Lines has also called a cab to take him just 0.46 miles between the Council House in Victoria Square and Old Snow Hill.
The journey, for another photo shoot in December, would have taken less than ten minutes to walk, but cost the taxpayer £7.13 each way.
One union has demanded an inquiry and an apology for the “unacceptable use” of chauffeur-driven cars while thousands of jobs are at risk.
But as councillor Lines was being chauffeured around, his council colleague Mike Ward (Lib Dem, Sheldon), spent just £8 to get to and from London on a bargain basement bus.
The accounts show that Coun Ward dragged himself out of bed for a 5.30am trip from Digbeth Coach Station, which did not arrive back into Birmingham until 1.40am last June.
All of the taxi and executive car trips were booked though the Democratic Services directorate, which ran up a private car hire bill of £51,697.
Nearly £7,000 of that bill was spent on executive cars, which were booked just 31 times - with the highest bill coming in at £544.
Councillor Lines spent more than £2,500 on booking executive cars through this department, rather than charging them to his own personal expenses account.
The Birmingham Post did not see the receipts for the remaining £4,500 of executive cars that were booked between the remaining 119 councillors.
Coun Lines said: “I have used the cars on a number of occasions, but I have not been on my own. I am very proud of what we have achieved in Birmingham. I am the only full-time Cabinet Member and I receive many invitations to go and speak all over the country.
“This year, and last year, housing has been the most successful department in receiving awards and, in the main, they have been held in London.
“It’s far cheaper to go by car with two or three staff than to catch a train.
“If I use a cab I don’t keep them waiting during meetings, but the taxis are organised by officers, so I cannot comment on that.
“The reason we have used so many black cabs in the last year is because we are building so many houses across the city. My turnover is now £820 million and it’s my job to go out and see these lovely new homes.”
Coun Ward (Lib Dem, Sheldon) bought a “funfare” service to save the council cash for his London trip.
He said: “I cannot remember which specific meeting I was attending, but I do try to do it as cheaply as I can if I am doing anything on behalf of the council.
“I am not averse to travelling by coach, if it is the cheapest way to do it. I believe the morality should be the same if you are paying yourself, or if the council is paying the bill.
“I must admit it is not always a pleasant experience and some journeys have been dreadful, but it is the cheapest option.”
Receipts from Business Transformation, the department responsible for making the council more efficient and saving money, also show hundreds of short taxi fares between an office in the Bullring and the Council House.
Roger McKenzie, regional secretary for Unison, said: “There needs to be a referral to the standards board and there needs to be a full an open inquiry about the use of chauffeur driven executive cars.
"Councillor Lines owes the people of Birmingham a full and frank apology for his behaviour.
