The Mayor of Derry and Strabane Council gets chauffeured around in a top of the range Ford Mondeo Vignale
Derry City and Strabane District Council came in second in the amount of money of ratepayers cash it spends chauffeuring its first citizen to council functions and events.
Over a three-year period it spent £41,774 for two Ford cars – a Mondeo and a top of the range Mondeo Vignale.
These were purchased at a cost of £34,450, while the fuel and maintenance bill came to £6,724. Personalised number plates cost a further £600.
A spokesman for Derry City and Strabane District Council advised that it has spent an average of £16,200 per annum on mayoral cars since April 2015.
“The total spend includes the purchase of one car and associated maintenance and fuel costs.
The council considers the cars essential in allowing the mayor to attend as many community and business events as possible throughout the council area and beyond,” the spokesman added.
Eimhear Macfarlane, the Northern Ireland coordinator of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “At a time when the cost of living is rising and wage growth is sluggish, taxpayers will not welcome news of excessive spending.
“Some travel will, of course, be necessary to conduct duties, but spending money on luxury saloons for politicians to attend functions is clearly wasteful,” she added.
The highest spend in the North of Ireland was Antrim and Newtownnabbey Council with a £48,421 bill for its diesel guzzling Audi A8 3.0 TDI Quattro SE.
This was leased at a cost of £33,531, with £10,013 spent on fuel, £4,183 on maintenance and £691 on personalised number plates.
Belfast City Council’s total spend was £36,186.
It has a fleet of three cars including a Peugeot 607 Executive, which the manufacturer stopped producing in 2009, but which the council says it owns.
The two other vehicles in the Belfast fleet are a BMW 7 Series and BMW 730 Series.
The lease bill is £17,894 while fuel for the three cars cost £8,280.
A further £9,921 was spent on maintenance.
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