Plaid Cymru AM Leanne Wood has criticised spending of up to £110 on lunch for two at plush London restaurants by the former Auditor General for Wales, Jeremy Colman.
Using the Freedom of Information Act, the campaigning Plaid AM for South Wales Central, has obtained the spending on hospitality purchased using a Government credit card during 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Among the costs revealed were:
- Working lunch with Assistant Auditor General, National Audit Office, RAC Club, Pall Mall, London (August, 2008) cost: £110.55
- Working lunch with Michael O’Higgins, Chair of Audit Commission at the Wallace Restaurant, London (May 2008) cost: £97.31
- Dinner for guests from the European Court of Auditors, Luxembourg (Auditor General x4, October 2008) cost: £225
- Three meetings at Hilton Hotel, London, (with supplier, private room and refreshments): (June/July/September 2009) cost: £633.42
Leanne Wood also obtained details of claims made by Anthony Snow, the former Chief Operating Officer at the Wales Audit Office, who left last year with a redundancy pay and pensions package worth around £750,000. Among the costs revealed were:
- Two lunches for two at Le Gallois, Cardiff, in 2008 cost: £89.75. One was described as a 2 x cricket 2 course, 1 x orange juice, 1 x glass of sparkling, gratuity
- Bottled water- St David’s Day Business Breakfast (February, 2009) cost: £3.50
- Bayside Brasserie, Cardiff Bay: Meeting and lunch with external person (May 2009) cost: £40
Leanne Wood said: “Jeremy Colman was already handsomely remunerated with a salary of more £170,000 a year. So tax-payers’ will question how they should have been picking up the tab for a lunch which costs up to £110, particularly as head of the Wales Audit Office he was responsible for scrutinising other public bodies on how it spent money.
“I’m sure someone on Job Seeker’s Allowance of £51.85 a week if your under 25 or £65.45 a week for the over 25s will find it astounding that the person responsible for keeping a check on public money will blow £110 on a meal for two at public expense.
“Public servants need to recognise that this sort of expenditure, although not substantial in the grand scheme of things, is unacceptable, whether or not we are in a difficult economic climate. It’s very easy to spend someone else’s money and most family food bills are nowhere near £110 a week.
“This information comes on top of some exorbitant travel claims made by Jeremy Colman and indicates an organisation that did not have a handle on its own spending.
“Plaid believes that the cost of travel, accommodation and any hospitality should only be incurred if absolutely necessary and value for money considerations must be transparent among public bodies.”
