£750 budget for Poole mayoral car use at public engagements

The organisation which oversees the town’s traditional roles of mayor and sheriff borrows vehicles owned by BCP Council paying a fee for each use.

But charter trustee – and former council leader – Vikki Slade said taxpayers were not getting a “reasonable” rate with only £750 allocated for a car which could be used hundreds of times a year.

The charter trustees was set up in 2019 to manage the traditional mayoral functions which were the responsibility of Poole council before it merged to become part of BCP Council.

It is funded through an additional council tax precept charged to residents of the town.

A similar arrangement is in place in Bournemouth while in Christchurch, its civic functions are the responsibility of the town council.

As part of its creation, it was agreed that the charter trustees would hire the use of cars for its mayor and other dignitaries to attend events.

But the allocation of just £750 in its budget for this has prompted concern about whether the council is getting value for money.

Former council leader Vikki Slade, who as ward councillor for Broadstone is a charter trustee, raised the issue when the trustees met on Wednesday.

Cllr Vikki Slade

“The public purse should expect that BCP Council would get a reasonable hire rate from the charter trustees,” she said.

“If they’re being used 300 times a year, as they have in previous years, there’s no way £750 is an appropriate figure, unless you are using a Beryl bike.

“It just doesn’t feel reasonable for a hire arrangement that’s fair on all BCP residents.”

Responding, council finance manager Daniel Povey, said the budget could be revised.

“Clearly the £750 figure on its own is not enough, but with all these things we can tweak the budget as we go through to make sure there is the provision there,” he said.

He added that in 2019/20, the trustees paid the council £1,753 in hire charges and was responsible for fuel costs.

The discussion follows in the wake of the publication of a council fleet management plan which includes the controversial planned £90,000 purchase of two new mayoral cars.