Quango chiefs spend £57,000 on travel costs

Published on Friday 24 December 2010 15:26

SCOTTISH quango bosses have splashed out tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' cash on travel and expenses involving trips to destinations such as the United States, China, Japan and India.

Ministers have been urged to hold an investigation into the expenditure after five board members of the jobs creation agency Scottish Enterprise racked up more than 57,000 on the trips and expenses claims in just 19 months. The bill was revealed following a freedom of information request by Scotland on Sunday.

Scottish Enterprise chief executive Lena Wilson spent more than 34,000 in travel costs and expenses up to November 2010 as part of her duties.

Wilson's costs included nearly 28,000 for overseas travel and hotel stays during overseas trade missions. Her expenses also included more than 4,000 on travel and hotels within the UK, including mileage and public transport, along with more than 380 on hospitality and entertainment for customers.

Another big-spending Scottish Enterprise board member was Jack Perry, Wilson's predecessor, whose expenses and travel costs stood at more than 18,500 during the same 19-month period. The taxpayer picked up overseas travel, hotel and subsistence costs of more than 15,000 for Perry. He also spent around 2,000 on travel and hotels within the UK, 480 on hospitality and entertainment for customers, as well as 80 on parking.

Other Scottish Enterprise board members running up thousands of pounds of costs to the taxpayer included the former chairman of the body Crawford Gillies, whose expenses and travel costs amounted to nearly 3,500 during the 18 months up to November 2010. Gillies spent more than 1,500 on travel within the UK, more than 600 on travelling overseas and more than 200 on hotels and subsistence.

There were also claims and travel costs from board members Colin McClatchie and Russel Griggs, who racked up costs of nearly 1,000 and more than 340 respectively, mainly for car mileage.

Labour MSP Bill Butler said: "I suspect many members of the public will take a very dim view of these figures. In the current financial climate all public sector workers need to exercise restraint in their expenses claims, particularly those charged with helping grow our economy.

"Claims should only be made when there is a real and legitimate need for them and should not be seen as a 'perk' which comes with a senior post in a quango.

"Scottish ministers should investigate these claims to ensure that they provide value for money for the taxpayer."

Scottish Enterprise defended the amounts, saying Wilson had met more than 70 companies, including Mitsubishi in Japan and HEROtsc in India, on her trade missions to secure benefits for Scotland's economy.A spokesman said: "Most of these expenses have been incurred selling Scotland and Scottish businesses overseas - a critical part of the job and one which helps to attract around 500 million for Scotland's economy every year."

The Scottish Government also defended the role of Scottish Enterprise.