This is how much taxpayers have paid to fund '˜luxury' cars for mayors

TAXPAYERS have forked out almost £21,000 to pay for a '˜luxury' Jaguar to ferry Portsmouth's Lord Mayor around, a new probe has revealed.Â

According to figures released today by the TaxPayers' Alliance, Portsmouth City Council has spent £20,782 paying for leasing, fuelling and maintaining the Jaguar XF Luxury model.

The council's whopping bill is the largest in Hampshire and one of the biggest among the UK's local authorities '“ well above the national average of £12,133.

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Close behind was Gosport Borough Council, which splashed out just shy of £18,000 leasing, maintaining and insuring the Audi A6 since 2015. It spent £650 alone on car washes.

Fareham Borough Council spent a modest £5,440 on its Volvo S80 SE Lux while Havant Borough Council spent £7,900 to fuel and maintain a Volkswagen Passat.

The news comes as councils face continued pressure to tighten spending.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, has said taxpayers' would be '˜rolling their eyes' at the revelation and urged councils to take action.

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He said: '˜Every penny wasted on excessive travel expenses is money that could be going towards social care or bin collections.'

The study showed that since 2015, 207 councils spent £4,513,607 on cars for mayors, lord mayors, lord provosts and and their equivalents. Over that same time period, council tax in England has increased by an average of £188.   

Local authorities spent £2,745,097 on buying and leasing cars over the three-year period, with Portsmouth's leasing bill hitting £15,800 and Gosport's £11,601.81. Fareham and Havant had no lease bill.

Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council and the Isle of Wight Council didn't spend anything on vehicles. Other luxury vehicles used by UK councils' mayors included the Audi A8 (£69,415), BMW 7 (£63,040), Jaguar XJ (£62,360) and Mercedes S class (£70,470).

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A spokesperson from Portsmouth City Council said: '˜The Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor perform important and historic civic duties and attend over 500 functions each year, the majority of which require a car. 

'˜The vehicle is leased as it's a more tax and cost efficient way.'   

A spokeswoman for Gosport Borough Council said: '˜The mayor attends an average of 300 official engagements each year '“ approximately 250 of them require use of the car. 

'˜If the engagement is local the mayor drives herself to the town hall and will walk from there after collecting the chain of office. 

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'˜The vehicle is leased as it's a more tax and cost efficient way of providing the transport required for this civic office.'

Labour Councillor Tom Coles, who represents Fratton ward at Portsmouth City Council, said cheaper alternatives were needed, adding: '˜Whilst the mayoral car should carry a degree of distinction, I feel at these times of Tory cuts to local services that a model better fitting the budgetary restrictions placed on councils would be appropriate.'

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