ABERDEEN City Council is to send five people to the United States for a technology conference at a cost of £35,000, it emerged yesterday, a few days after the local authority was plunged into chaos by the Icelandic banking crisis.
Kate Dean, the leader of the council, which is tackling an overspend of £50 million, intends to take the team, including Lord Provost Peter Stephen, on the promotional trip.
The council has been battling to restore the city's confidence after it
emerged it had overspent. Last week it was reported that it would have to make £20 million more cuts in the 2009-10 budget.
On Thursday, it was reported that collapsed Icelandic bank, Landsbanki, is a partner in a £120 million schools project in the city, which includes seven new primaries and two secondaries.
Taxpayers are expected to foot the £35,000 cost of the flight, accommodation and other expenses at the annual Offshore Technology Conference in Houston next year. Aberdeen City Council said that the trip will include the Lord Provost, Ms Dean and three council employees.
Last night, Richard Baker, the Labour MSP for North-east Scotland, said: "It's an expensive trip to make when serious cuts are being made to vital services for the want of a few thousand pounds.
"It is more important for the leader of the council to be in Aberdeen dealing with the day-to-day problems that these massive budget cuts cause, rather than going on international delegations.
Last night, Ms Dean defended the decision to go to Houston. She said: "The money is not just for flights and accommodation, it will also pay for an exhibition space at the offshore technology exhibition. This is the sector's biggest conference in the world and Aberdeen deserves to be represented at it, and has been for the past 20 years."
Ms Dean said the trip had been passed by the relevant committee without any veto by the Labour members who sat on it.
"Aberdeen businesses would be very disappointed if we didn't go to Houston," she added. "Mr Baker should find out the facts about the city he purports to represent."
The full article contains 366 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
