£1000s wasted sending Sunderland Council bosses to political conferences

New council figures reveal that £7.5k has been spent this year sending senior council staff who are meant to remain politically neutral to Reform and Labour party conferences.

Opposition Lib Dem councillors are calling on the Council’s Reform UK leadership to ban the use of public money sending council staff to party political events.

The call comes as £7,468.30 of Sunderland Council Tax payers’ cash was spent sending the authority’s Chief Executive, Patrick Melia, and Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs, Jill Laverick, to both the Reform UK conference and the Labour party conference in September.

Lib Dem city councillor Stephen O’Brien, who uncovered the figures, commented: 

“It is a disgrace that senior council staff who are meant to be politically neutral are attending party political events and are charging Council Tax payers through the nose for their travel, hotels and food.

“If political lobbying for the Council needs to happen then at these events this should be done by Labour and Reform politicians in the city, at their own expense.

“At a time when the Council is cutting services and hiking Council Tax it is truly beyond belief that £1000s is being spaffed up the wall sending council staff to political events. It simply cannot be defended.

“The Reform UK leadership of the Council should stop being ‘continuity Labour’ and commit to stopping Labour’s policy of public money being wasted sending council staff to political events.”