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Council staff clock up 119,156 air miles
Saturday 8th October 2011, 11:32AM BST.
Jet-setting council staff in the Black Country clocked up tens of thousands of air miles on official business last year –with short-haul flights up more than 250 per cent on the previous year at one authority.
Workers at Wolverhampton City Council flew 119,156 miles, the equivalent of five times around the world. The figure included 59,904 miles in flights within Europe, up from 26,417 in 2009/10, an increase of 265 per cent. A councillor has demanded a full report on the trips.
Walsall Council staff travelled 9,448 miles in 2010/11. But while they flew less than the previous year, the bill for taxpayers rose £2,500 to around £6,400.
The distance flown by Dudley Council employees increased by 126 per cent to 2,550 miles, from 1,126 in 2009/10.
Sandwell and Staffordshire County councils could not provide figures.
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i’m appalled …wolverhampton city council back in the day used to reprimand me for nipping into featherstone or essington …lol
how can this be justified the cost must be astronomical ..no wonder our council taxes are so high …
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I assume that all the free airmiles they may have collected on their ‘business trips’ have been donated to charities?
Have they also donated any savings obtained through using duty free shops to local charities. The cuts, the cuts, we really are in it together! I await my free holiday flight and hotel booking courtesy of the council -from the airmiles of course.
Nah -not likely
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as an ex-council worker, I know first hand that, flights by unit bosses was done at least 3 times a year. Funny my ex boss always needed to do business in Italy when another member of personnel in other unit was there.
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Why would any LOCAL Councillor need to go anywhere abroad?
Councillor’s should be doing and dealing with things LOCAL to Wolverhampton.
IF and it’s a big IF they need to deal with anyone from Europe, use the bloody computer….
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More perks and freebies – there really is no end, is there?
I suppose it was the usual “fact-finding” expedition in order to get their snouts in a different trough.
If they want to play at being executives let them start and run their own companies instead of playing at our expense.
Cuts? Extrememly severe ones, asap!
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It would be interesting to know what official business they were on before everyone judges them!!
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I used to work at wolverhampton homes and the directors would always go on junkets, whilst the staff took pay cuts.
One of them even had an article in the staff newsletter about how he went on concord.
No wonder we are in such as mess.
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Wait for Prince Andrew to join council!
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Unfortunately, in trying to craft a story which might grab the headlines, the writer of this story has caused confusion between Airmiles, which are awarded by airlines, and the number of miles flown by employees and members of various councils. The two are completely different and there is no correlation between the two.
On the one hand this totally undermines the story and gives a misleading idea that employees are getting private benefits from business travel rather than the focus being the number of miles flown and the cost of that travel. Conversely if the number of air miles quoted actually is the private benefit earned by staff then it is likely the number of miles actually flown is far more as in many cases Airmiles (or the equivalent from various airlines) are not given if the traveller is not a member of a scheme.
Finally, it would be interesting to see how many of the miles logged were flown by staff and how many by the members of the council themselves. This is also not clear.
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Another headline to ensure that Council staff are continually bashed and regarded as a waste of space by the public. For once why can’t the press give some recognition for the good hard work which goes on in local authorities. The world has changed but the public perception of us Council workers hasn’t and it largely due to politicians and the press. I’m glad I’ll be out of it soon – we don’t deserve constant bashing so get yourselves another whipping boy!!
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I wasn’t aware the Black Country was so big that you need an aircraft to travel to work.
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To those saying local council workers shouldn’t be flying anywhere. How are they to promote the local area to international business without going outside the black country? Do you honestly think writing a letter will do the trick. Would we have Jaguar / Land Rover building a new engine plant? If we want our councils to bring jobs in to the area, they need to go out and drag them in.
Speculate to accumulate. Not, sit around with thumbs up bum and hope.
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Have some people got nothing better to do than council bash again, change the record its getting boring now. don’t think that all staff have access to air travel, council do pay taxes and have the same bills as everyone else or do people think their exempt from council tax as part of their employment. I’m off to Bilston now in my private jet to clock up a few more air miles
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So how come Walsall and Dudley have so few airmiles???
Wolverhampton seems to have one hell of a lot. An explanation is needed – if not the ombudsman needs to be called in to find out whether taxpayers money has(as I suspect) been used wrongly and all those who had the flights should reimburse the taxpayer!!! THERE IS NO EXCUSE!
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Sandwell and Staffordshire County councils could not provide figures.
COULDN’T OR WOULDN’T?
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Some council devotees are quick to defend this wanton excess but can they explain the high numbers of air miles compared to adjacent councils. Thank you Express and Star for further exposing the disconnect between Civic leaders and the need to be economic with the use of public money at s time when many of Wolverhampton’s citizens are struggling to make ends meet on a day to day basis.
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Are council workers emptying bins in florida now?
How can anyone justify foreign travel by employees of a LOCAL council?
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Are these the ones “threatening” us with a strike next month?
Phew!
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