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Cornwall Council credit card spending £9m since 2008 Cornwall Council admits credit cards data blunder
(about 2 hours later)
Opposition members on Cornwall Council have demanded a response into figures which show it has spent nearly £9m on credit cards since 2008. Cornwall Council has admitted giving out the wrong figures for its credit card bills which led to claims of lavish spending on travel and hotels.
The data, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Daily Telegraph, shows council card spending over £500. It told the Daily Telegraph it had spent nearly £9m on credit cards since 2008, including on overseas travel.
Cornwall's total spend was £8,973,444, higher than any other UK local authority according to the figures. But the council said it had not checked the figures before releasing them, which were "at least" £1.3m less.
Jim Currie, of the Conservative-Independent controlled council, claimed spending was under control. Among the figures was £114,142 for hotels in India, which was actually in rupees, and should have been £1,645.
'Astounding level' The figures, given to the newspaper in a Freedom of Information request, were published on Saturday.
>Cornwall Council's credit card bill since 2008 included £1.14m for hotels and £81,000 on hospitality and expenses. They suggested >Cornwall's total spend was £8,973,444, higher than any other UK local authority.
Jeremy Rowe, Liberal Democrat leader, called it an "astounding level of expenses on the taxpayers' credit card". The bills included £1.14m for hotels and £81,000 on hospitality and expenses.
He said on his blog: "These revelations are astounding at a time when the council's lowest paid staff are expected to accept pay freezes and shrunken departments and is yet another demonstration of how remote some of the decision-makers at County Hall have become." Opposition Liberal Democrats called it a scandal.
Deputy leader Alex Folkes added: "Most workers in Cornwall are seeing their pay frozen or cut at the moment and Cornwall Council is laying off hundreds of workers. But after the article was published, the Conservative-Independent controlled council admitted some of the figures which it gave to the newspaper were wrong.
"We will be seeking urgent answers from the leader and the chief executive about this scandal." Japanese restaurant
The council was criticised in an href="http://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/Published/C00000575/M00002589/AI00019715/InterimAnnualGovernanceReportAppendix1.pdf" >Audit Commission report in 2010 for "weak" financial management. It is now checking all the figures.
'Odd wrinkle' It said the £114,142 figure given for hotel costs in India for an educational exchange involving teachers from Cornish schools was mistakenly not converted from rupees.
Jim Currie, Cornwall Council cabinet member with responsibility for finance, told BBC News that the council was now "ahead of the game" on financial management. There were similar inaccuracies in the amounts highlighted for restaurant payments, with one figure of £15,640 quoted for a restaurant in Japan during another educational exchange.
"I can't comment on this kind of detail," he said. This amount was in yen and would be about £118 sterling.
"But we have the squeeze on big time and it's right across the board." Other figures, including more than £650,000 on a hotel in Bangkok, were also being scrutinised.
"I am hoping to create a reputation for very sound finances." The council said: "We are still checking these figures but so far estimate that at least £1.3m of the costs highlighted for overseas travel and hotels are wrong."
Spending was under control at the council he said, adding: "In a huge organisation there will be the "odd wrinkle". Council leader Alec Robertson said: "While we are committed to being open and transparent, this incident shows the importance of analysing raw data carefully and responsibly.
"Unfortunately the deadline set by the newspaper meant that we were unable to check all the figures before the article was published."
The council said it told the journalist the figures were inaccurate.
"They did not give us the time to provide them with the accurate information," he said.
The newspaper said it had given the council three days "to justify the expenditure".