Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, has slammed the ‘appalling waste’ of taxpayers’ money by West Midlands transport authority Centro.
Over the past five years, Centro has spent a total of £85,583 of taxpayers’ money on exhibiting at conferences.
In 2013 alone, Centro spent £19,672. Of this money, £9388 was spent on renting stands, £1270 on furniture and publicity materials, £6550 on staff accommodation and general expense claims, £855 on entertaining £1609 on transport to and from venues.
Gavin said: “This is an appalling waste of taxpayers’ money. Many people in the South Staffordshire are struggling to cover the cost of daily bus travel and Centro is frittering away their hard earned cash on attending conferences.
“You can stay at a Travelodge for as little as £29 a night. That would equate to one night’s stay for 225 members of staff. I struggle to see why Centro would need that many employees attending conferences in a single year.
“Centro are not meant to be running an operation to provide Junkets for themselves on the taxpayers’ expense. Attending Party Conferences will not impact on the allocation of Government funds. These decisions are made by Departments after studying all relevant proposals and reviewing each region’s requirements. Centro’s time would be better spent concentrating on the job at hand and putting together viable transport programs, not living the high life.”
Gavin discovered these figures as the result of a Freedom of Information request to the company.
In an accompanying letter to Gavin, a Centro representative sought to justify the amount spent.
They stated: “Attending part conferences is we believe, an important way of raising awareness and gathering support for investment in West Midlands transport and for national projects such as HS2.
“They provide a rare opportunity for us to meet with and present our case to Prime Ministers and other party leaders.”