"Dubai trip for council boss to cost taxpayers £4.5k"

A Coventry City Council chief will fly business class using taxpayers’ money for a £4,500 trip to a real estate conference in the United Arab Emirates – with ‘no leads’ on potential investors, we can reveal



The council’s deputy chief executive for place, Martin Yardley, is set to represent Coventry at the Middle East Real Estate Forum in Dubai from Saturday, April 27 to Thursday, May 2.

Eyebrows have been raised about the eye-watering £3,500 paid by taxpayers for the Emirates airline business class flight ticket as well as the £600 price tag for five nights’ accommodation.

A simple internet search shows return Emirates business class saver tickets on those dates to Dubai can be bought for about £1,200 and under £2,500 for first class.

Other comparison websites show economy class tickets on those days from other airlines can be bought for under £400.

Questioned by us, cabinet member for jobs and regeneration Jim O’Boyle said the trip will be important in opening the city up to an emerging international market.

But he did concede it was difficult to demonstrate whether any investment would flow from the visit.

Coun O’Boyle would not be drawn on our further questions about the costly flight.

Ruling Labour councillors are expected to approve the trip for Mr Yardley at next Tuesday’s (April 9) cabinet meeting.

The trip also includes spending by city taxpayers of £200 for subsistence and £200 for ‘visit support costs’, which are said to be only for emergencies.

Around £2,000 of the trip will be financed through the Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Hub, says Coun O’Boyle – which is funded by government.

But the LEP’s contribution is not mentioned in an agenda document to go before councillors which seeks approval for a total spend of £4,500.

A previous council trip to Volgograd, Russia, which cost £2,000 for three councillors for a six-day trip, was lambasted by opposition Conservative councillors as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Wasting OUR money again.

BTW, he's welcome to Dubai, the sand everywhere and the humidity can get you down after a couple of days. I worked out there, and whilst I enjoyed it, it certainly wasn't without its problems. Plus you couldn't get a bacon sarnie!

Wasting OUR money again.!

Seems they like the government's present and past have seen the millions of £s they CCC have put by since the 60s and 70s and think oooh we should have some of that perhaps we should all stop paying our tax s as where in Law does it say a human being has to any pay tax it does nt.
It's all adding up is nt it with the over spend with the concerts and this and other trips and things.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/income_tax