Probe into council car hire 'disgrace'
THE cost of car hire for Highland Council workers is to be scrutinised after a councillor branded the £30,000-a-month bill "a disgrace."
At a meeting of the full council in Inverness, Glynis Sinclair, the SNP member for Culloden and Ardersier, demanded that the local authority’s budget leader Bill Fernie look into the spend when he is searching for savings in February to balance the council’s books.
Figures reported in the Caithness Courier revealed the council spends around £1000 a day or £30,000 a month on hire cars for its workers.
The council spent £363,063 on hired cars, including £120,138 on fuel costs for the last financial year.
The local authority defended the costs – saying the council covered the largest local authority area in Scotland.
But Councillor Sinclair is stunned to see the total cost the council spent on hire cars.
Councillor Fernie, the Indepenet councillor for Wick, said he would turn his attention to the issue but stressed that car hire was a necessity rather than a luxury for the council.
The cost of agency workers was also criticised by SNP councillor Maxine Smith, who called for a "root and branch review.