Cash-strapped council blasted for sending four executives on £5,000 ‘jolly’ to Cannes ‘to showcase Coventry’

By
Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:57 PM on 4th January 2012


Healthy salary: Coventry Council chief executive Martin Reeves earns £113k a year

Healthy salary: Coventry Council chief executive Martin Reeves earns £113k a year

A cash-strapped council was condemned yesterday after announcing it was to send four highly paid managers on a luxury £5,000 taxpayer-funded trip to the French Riviera.

Coventry City Council is to axe 1,000 jobs and cut £140million from its budget over the next four years.

But it will send chief executive Martin Reeves and three delegates on a three-day seminar in the exclusive resort of Cannes in the south of France. 

The course – entitled ‘Marche International Des Professionals De L’Immobilier’ (MIPIM) or ‘International Fair for Real Estate Professionals’ – will be held at the prestigious Palais Des Festivals et des Congres hall which also hosts the Cannes film festival.

Mr Reeves, who earns £175,000 a year, will be joined by city development director Martin Yardley and his assistant David Cockroft – who earn £113,000 and £83,000 respectively.

The fourth delegate will be Deirdre Fitzhugh, who holds the post ‘inward investment and destination marketing team manager’ at the council.

The taxpayer will fork out £1,156 for each delegate to attend the conference from March 6-9, including £394 each in accommodation and £262 in travel expenses.

The final bill will cost the taxpayer £4,624 – the equivalent to £1,541 each day.

Opposition councillors yesterday expressed fury at the trip, branding it a ‘jolly’.

Tory councilllor John Blundell said: ‘I would query why it is necessary to send four highly paid officers to Cannes.

‘When there is public money involved you have to be accountable and the average taxpayer may well view this a jolly.

‘I would not say all overseas trips should be scrapped but I would like to know why a smaller delegation could not be sent.

‘We will be examining the justification for this trip very critically when it comes to the council meeting.’

Martin Yardley

David Cockroft

Mr Reeves will be joined by city development director Martin Yardley, left, and his
assistant David Cockroft, right – who earn £113,000 and £83,000 respectively

Council leader John Mutton has given his approval for the trip, which is expected to be rubber stamped at a meeting on Thursday.

A document signed by councillor Mutton states the reason for the trip is ‘to profile Coventry as a destination for re-location.’

It goes on: ‘Our presence at the show gives a strong indication that Coventry is in the market place for doing business and is actively seeking new property investment … as part of an overall strategy to create and sustain jobs in the region.

‘Participating and exhibiting at MIPIM allows Coventry the unique opportunity of profiling its projects, achievements and development opportunities to major decision makers and intermediaries in the UK and international property markets.’

Sunny: The trip to Cannes, pictured above, will cost the taxpayer a total of £4,624 - which works out to £1,541 each day the officials will be staying

Sunny: The trip to Cannes, pictured above, will cost the taxpayer a total of £4,624 – which works out to £1,541 each day the officials will be staying

Coventry City Council has sent delegates to the MIPIM in Cannes for the last 17 years. Tory councillor Allan Andrews blasted the council, branding the trip ‘self indulgent’.

He said: ‘To send four of the highest paid officers to the south of France is unnecessary and a waste of taxpayers’ money.

‘Just one delegate would be enough to represent the views of Coventry.

‘Delegates have been going to this conference for the last 17 years but I and many other people in the city would probably like to know what benefit Coventry has had as a result.

‘There are a lot of exciting things happening in the city with the Olympics this year but this trip to France is just self indulgent.

‘If the chief executive really wants to go then he should pay for himself and give something back to the city.’

'Fantastic place to do business': Medieval Spon Street, Coventry, just one of the locations the officials will presumably be promoting

‘Fantastic place to do business’: Medieval Spon Street, Coventry, just one of the locations the officials will presumably be promoting

Coventry council defended its chief officers’ attendance at the conference and told MailOnline that it would try to offset the costs through private sector sponsorship.

A spokesman said: ‘It is absolutely vital for Coventry to fight for investment and to show the world we are a fantastic place to do business.

‘We attend MIPIM along with a number of our key partners in the private sector all with the same vision of doing all we can to secure investment into the city.

‘We have a great track record of doing just that. In fact a recent £60m investment in the city began with a meeting at MIPIM. We are in a highly competitive marketplace and we must be “in it to win it”.

‘As we do every year, we seek to offset the costs of attendance at MIPIM through sponsorship and contributions from private sector partners to avoid any direct cost to the local taxpayer.’

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Another left-wing local authority groaning under the weight of ‘the cuts’ and no doubt blaming everyone else when it cuts essential services.

By the way, exactly what does he do to qualify for that sort of salary?

Just as usual, money for the old boys network!!

Another bunch of council jobsworths scamming the City for a free jolly.

Did they ship out a ‘Lady Godiva’ and her horse as well ? Apart from being bombed to the ground by the Germans that’s surely all they are famous for.

The whole system is out of control they are the same as the banksters.

The average bloke or woman in the street grossly underestimates the value of “networking”. The council officers are not going to be sunning themselves on the beach. They will be working damn hard to sell Coventry. Being Olympic year and with Coventry as one of the football venues, it is the perfect time to do so. Let’s hope they win another £60million of investment – the city could really do with it. No matter how tight money is, we still have to look to the future.

Deirdre Fitzhugh, who holds the post inward investment and destination marketing team manager’.————-Can anyone interpret this made up job title into plain English, and note, Team Leader, so how many public sector “workers” are employed in this department

This is yet another reason why local gvernement cannot be trusted with Public money!

This city is a hole and its nothing to do with the recession its down to this bunch of wasters running the city into the ground with high rates No good businesses want to come to the city slash their wage and claw back some of the savings that way because they dont deserve what they are paid and the council labour leader Mr John Mutton should be ashamed of himself for agreeing to the trip :@

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