Time you caught the 22, bosses tell civil servants

Civil servants have been told to hop on the bus after it was revealed they spent almost £300,000 on taxis trips around Edinburgh last year.

• The 22 can take civil servants from Victoria Quay to the city centre

Figures show that over the past five years the cost of officials taking taxis within the Capital totalled more than 1.5 million - including 129,723 for trips between St Andrew's House and Victoria Quay, the Scottish Government's two main office bases in the Capital.

Government staff were taking up to 456 trips a month between the two sites.

But now the Scottish Government has ordered a "presumption against taxi journeys".

And the official advice is: Take the number 22 bus.

The statistics, released under freedom of information, show the cost of taxi journeys by government staff in Edinburgh in 2009-10 totalled 296,884.

And that included a bill of over 25,000 for civil servants taking cabs on the 2.3 mile journey between St Andrew's House in the city centre and Victoria Quay in Leith.

Edinburgh transport convener Gordon Mackenzie described the figures as "incredible".

He said: "Given the bus service which runs from Victoria Quay to the city centre, surely we must be able to make savings on that."

And Lothians Labour MSP George Foulkes said the taxi bill was "ridiculous".

He said: "In the current economic situation, with people losing their jobs and cutbacks of every kind, this is something that could and should be stopped without further ado.

"It wouldn't hurt anyone - in fact, it might even improve people's health.

"We have probably the best bus service in Britain and civil servants should be setting an example to the rest of us."

And Lord Foulkes said First Minister Alex Salmond should be taking the lead in swapping government cars for public transport.

"When staff see Alex Salmond using cars all the time, I can see why they take taxis. He should be setting a better example."

The Scottish Government said it had a contract with Computer Cabs for the supply of taxi journeys for official business travel in Edinburgh and had negotiated fixed fares for travel between its main buildings - for example, St Andrew's House to Victoria Quay costs 7.50 per time.

It said the 2009-10 taxi bill was the lowest for five years, but since the "presumption against taxi journeys" had been introduced in June, there had been a 41 per cent reduction in taxi journeys over a two month period, resulting in a saving of 13,665 for July and August.

The government said instead of taking taxis, staff were encouraged to consider:

• The 22 bus, which runs between the main Scottish Government buildings in Edinburgh

• Walking

• Cycling

• Telephone conferencing

• Video conferencing

It added: "We are committed to further reduce our taxi journeys and spend."

OUT AND ABOUT

Annual bills for civil servants' taxi trips around Edinburgh:

2005-6: 311,842

2006-7: 313,863

2007-8: 297,557

2008-9: 311,792

2009-10: 296,884