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Hyundai Santa Fe is part of the council’s cars fleet |
‘Credit crunch? With these cars we’re heading for financial crash!’
WESTMINSTER City Council spends more than £89,000 a year leasing a fleet of luxury cars, including a BMW Z4 and a Mazda RX-8.
Among the 26 vehicles used by senior staff are two Volvos, a Jaguar, four BMWs, three Hondas, two Audis and five Volkswagens. The revelation emerged following a Freedom of Information Act request by the Westminster and City of London Liberal Democrats.
With much of the borough well served by Tube and bus links, questions are being asked as to why the council needs such expensive cars.
Mark Blackburn, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Westminster North, said: “With recession biting, people everywhere are counting the pennies. Despite that, Westminster seems to think it is ok to pay thousands of pounds of our money to lease sports cars.”
He added: “The council itself admits that air quality in Westminster is poor and needs to improve.
“That is not helped by having top staff driving around in these cars, especially beasts like the Hyundai Santa Fe [pictured] and the Volvo XC90. Goodness knows what the fuel consumption is on that.”
Graham White, director of human resources at Westminster City Council, said: “Westminster offers competitive packages to retain talented staff and this can include a contribution towards leasing a car.
“However, the cost to the council is far lower than these figures show as employees can contribute significantly to the costs depending on the value of the car they lease.” |
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