West Lothian’s only independent councillor hit out at foreign travel by members and staff.
He complained they are flying round the world when the council is so strapped financially it cannot replace road safety signs.
Posting on social media Stuart Borrowman, who represents Armadale and Blackridge, said: “I recently made an information request to the council about travel by councillors and officials outside the UK.
“The data I have is for the period June 2017-March 2019. It seems there were trips to Germany (four different destinations), USA, Spain, Taiwan, Ireland (Dublin and Donegal) and China.
“In those 22 months a total of 116 person/nights were spent abroad. Really?”
He added: “Lately I’ve been dealing with, for instance, people now paying for adult social services and twice I’ve had requests for additional road safety signage in rural locations only to be told that ‘there’s absolutely no budget.’ I didn’t ask for costs.”
He added later: “I was genuinely surprised by the extent of foreign travel in the period since the last election.
“It’s not just the direct costs for flights and hotels but the distraction of staff from core tasks in what are challenging times.
“I’ve not been made aware of any service improvement, cost saving or other benefit from all this.”
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: “It is very rare for council officers or elected members to travel abroad unless there is a clear and defined benefit to West Lothian.”
He added: “It would not be appropriate to send our young musicians and athletes on exchange visits to our official twinning partners in Germany of the USA without responsible adults to accompany them.
“Therefore teaching staff travel with our young musicians or athletes when they are taking part in such twinning visits.
“Similarly, international partnerships that benefit West Lothian such as Erasmus (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) and EQFM (European Foundation for Quality Management) require occasional travel to Europe to participate and share best practice.
“Promoting West Lothian as a destination for business internationally has the potential to deliver substantial rewards for the local economy.”
