The actual amount that was spent for the mayor of Reading to watch the Euros in Germany has been clarified by the council.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) submitted a freedom of information (FOI) request asking for the amount Reading Borough Council spent on travel in 2024/25.
This involved travel expenses for the mayor, councillors and staff, which includes social workers.
Councillor Glenn Dennis, the Mayor of Reading, visited Düsseldorf to watch a group stage match of the European Football Championships 2024 at the invitation of Dr Stephan Kellar, the mayor of the city.
They watched Ukraine beat Slovakia 2-1.
The council spent £919.98 on a return flight for the trip.
A total of £2,420.13 was spent on taxi expenses to assist the mayor during his other engagements.
Cllr Dennis (Labour, Kentwood) has clarified that the vast majority of the engagements he made as mayor were in the town.
He said: “I was proud to serve as Mayor of Reading and undertook the role with absolute commitment to public service and value for money.
“Any suggestion that the mayoralty during my term was profligate with council taxpayers’ money would be disappointing and incorrect.
“Throughout 2024/25 I attended several hundred local community, civic, cultural and charitable events across Reading, supporting residents, voluntary groups, faith organisations, schools and local causes. The social and community value of the mayoral role lies precisely in this visibility, accessibility and advocacy for the whole town.
“In terms of expenses, I made every effort to keep costs to an absolute minimum. As the council has clarified, I used my own bus pass for the vast majority of engagements, only using taxis when safety or late-night travel made this necessary.
“Overall mayoral travel costs were significantly lower than in years when a mayoral car was routinely provided.
“The Düsseldorf visit was undertaken at the invitation of Reading’s twin town and reflected the borough’s long-standing international and civic relationships.
“I remain confident that my term as Mayor demonstrated both pride in serving Reading and a responsible approach to the use of public funds.”
The amount spent on the Düsseldorf flights was clarified in an email by the council’s customer relations team.
The email states: “It has come to our attention that the figure of £2,420.13 relating to Mayoral expenses solely included the Mayor’s taxi travel to and from engagements throughout the municipal year.
“It did not include the cost of the return flights relating to his trip to Düsseldorf in June 2024, where he was invited to attend as a guest of Reading’s twin town. The cost of that return flight was £919.98.
“We apologise for the oversight which came about as a result of the trip to Düsseldorf being categorised under the separate Town Twinning expense code internally, as opposed to the general Travel Expenses cost code.
“We would additionally emphasise that the Mayor’s travel expenses to and from Mayoral engagements in 2024/25 amount to around 12 per cent of the travel expenses in previous years when a Mayoral car was routinely used to transport the Mayor to and from engagements.
“The use of a Mayoral car was discontinued in May 2023 and there are no plans to reintroduce it.
“Instead, Mayors since 2023 have made their own way to engagements and have only made use of taxis when warranted, for example, for night-time events where travelling by public transport or on foot whilst wearing the Mayoral chain would have been a security issue.
“The Mayor in 2024/25 used his own bus pass for the vast majority of travel to Mayoral engagements.”
The council has been asked to identify the model of the mayoral car and why more than £900 was spent on the Düsseldorf flights.
