Wales' civil servants cause car hire outrage

The money spent on car hire by civil servants during a time of severe recession has caused outrange in Wales.

In 2004 Welsh Assembly staff spent £958,708 on car hire, in the following year that figure dipped slightly to £990,699 and down again in £924,123 in 2006.

However, in 2007 the bill rocketed to £1,188,267 - a figure which has caused outcry and been branded "unacceptable" by the Liberal Democrat politician who discovered the figures.

Kirsty Williams, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, called the costs "extortionate".

However, in 2008, politicians and civil servants continued to be big spenders on car hire, exceeding the £1 million mark by £40,613.

Matthew Elliot, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "It is utterly wrong for the Welsh government to splash out so much taxpayers' cash on car hire.

"All too often, it seems that hard-working people's taxes are taken for granted and spent unnecessarily. With ordinary families losing their homes and thousands losing their jobs, the government must rein in its spending. This is a luxury that people can ill afford."

Williams added that the revelations had come at a time when Welsh businesses were struggling and people were tightening their belts, adding insult to injury.

"The Labour-Plaid Government knows very well that spending this amount of money on civil service travel is outrageous, as they failed to provide it through the normal channels available to assembly members," she concluded.

The news comes as MPs in the Houses of Parliament have been lambasted for their expenses claims, revealed in a month-long series of articles by the Daily Telegraph.

MPs across all parties were found to be claiming for things such as the cleaning of moats, building of duck islands and even toilet rolls.

In Wales, it seems that car hire is the extravagance government officials have been taking liberties with.

A spokesperson for the assembly said that civil servants are encouraged to use public transport as much as possible but noted that car hire can be less expensive than private car use, particularly when employees share a vehicle.

She added that technologies such as video conferencing were increasingly being adopted to cut down on the need for civil servants to travel long distances.

The spokeswoman concluded: "The car hire system is carefully managed to ensure use is restricted to essential government business and where alternative arrangements - such as video conference facilities - are not available."