Council in cutbacks row gives provost £2,000 a year for clothes

A CASH-STRAPPED council has come under fire after it emerged its civic leader receives a £2,000-a-year clothing allowance.

East Lothian Council has admitted handing £2,000 a year for provost Sheena Richardson to spend on new outfits.

Campaign groups have accused the local authority of having a "bizarre set of priorities" for allowing the provost to use the allowance at the same time as its education department has been forced to embark on a major savings drive.

Schools have been ordered to slash their budgets by up to £150,000 each while 11 teachers in East Lothian are facing the axe.

Officials last night insisted spending on clothes was "an accepted part" of the council's budget.

Independent councillor John Caldwell said: "I was aware of a fund for the provost, but I thought it was for entertainment.

"I'm sure this will raise a few eyebrows. I will have to go and look into this."

A spokesman for the campaign group Taxpayers' Alliance said: "This demonstrates a bizarre set of priorities.

"No council can justify spending thousands of pounds on clothes while taxpayers struggle to make ends meet and teachers are being laid off."

An insider at the council said: "I certainly wasn't aware that the provost had this allowance and I don't imagine many people in the council do, or I'm sure it'd be a real bone of contention in the context of all these cuts.

"It looks terrible that a clothing allowance can be preserved while everyone else has to make efficiency savings on essential services like education.

"I think as a gesture of solidarity the council and the provost should agree to waive something."

Earlier this year, East Lothian Council announced it was to cut 11 staff across the county, claiming the cuts were based on falling school rolls despite teachers complaining that they were struggling with large class sizes.

It was revealed in September that teenagers studying for vital exams in East Lothian had been ordered to use computers to work from online guides because there were too few teachers to take their classes.

A spokesman for East Lothian Council said: "The provost attends a lot of events and for that reason a lot is spent on clothing. This is an accepted part of the council's budget."

Neither Glasgow nor Edinburgh city councils were able to say whether their lord provosts had an annual clothing allowance.

However, Aberdeen City Council, which is trying to find £25 million of budget cuts over the next year, has admitted its lord provost has a £4,000 a year clothing allowance.

A furious row erupted in Edinburgh last year over plans to revive the wearing of ceremonial robes for councillors.

The move was instigated by lord provost George Grubb but was recently shelved over concerns it would give the wrong impression at a time of economic downturn.