Payments revealed 11 days after Carruth leaves his post

Stirling Council made public details of its former chief executive’s expenses payments — 11 days after he left the authority.

Documents released to the Observer show the £115,000 -a-year official charged the public purse for £1.60 bus fares and £2.50 for parking.

We asked in July, under the Freedom of Information Act, for a full breakdown of Mr Carruth’s expenses for 2016-17 and 2018-19 including reasons for payment and any invoices submitted.

According to the council’s annual report for 2016-17, Mr Carruth’s £114,004 salary was boosted by £812 for helping stage the EU Referendum count in Stirling.

Last financial year his remuneration package included a salary of £114,779 and £5909 for overseeing the council elections in May.

Data released to the Observer in response to the FOI request showed that Mr Carruth was paid expenses totalling £2024 for the two financial years.

It gave a monthly breakdown and the split between `travel’ and `expenses’ but failed to provide supporting documents including bills, receipts, tickets and reasons for payment.

We requested a review of the council decision and on Tuesday of last week, with Mr Carruth having `left the building,’ lists of his engagements on council business were supplied to the Observer plus copies of tickets and receipts in support of payments.

A spokesman for the council said staff were allowed to claim expenses related to travel for council business, including taxis.

“The attached information contains receipts paid by Stirling Council to Mr Carruth for expenses incurred in the course of his work,” the council add.

“Petrol receipts have been redacted as these are provided by Mr Carruth for Stirling Council VAT reclaim purposes only and are not paid to Mr Carruth.”

Among the generally mundane collection of stubs and receipts are £2.50 tickets for parking at Falkirk High railway station and several £1.60 adult single ticket for Lothian Buses.

There is also a receipt for £238 for a two night stay in November, 2016, at the Best Western Seraphine Kensington Gardens Hotel, London, although the document has a note that only one night’s stay was subject to claim.

Another receipt, for the Hilton Garden Inn, Aberdeen, on November 27 last year, lists a Peroni at £5.60 and a £5.73 burger plus “bread for one” but carries the written note “claimed £7.64 for food only”.

Council officials also listed the dozens of events/meetings attended by Mr Carruth over the two financial years. They include meetings with big employers in the area including two with Graham’s The Family Dairy, in May and August, 2016, and others with Superglass and CodeBase.

Stirling’s Riverhouse Restaurant was the venue in August and November, 2016, for meetings of the council’s corporate management team, one of which is described as a `team workshop’. Mr Carruth was at a `big huddle meeting’ in December, 2016, at Stirling Court Hotel, and the hotel was also the venue in March, 2017, for a meeting described as `chief executive action learning set’.

Mr Carruth unexpectedly resigned on August 31. Some within the council claimed he had lost the confidence of the SNP-Labour administration.

However, the council said he was stepping down after a successful four years in the post during which he had steered the authority through choppy financial waters.

●To comment on this story: email john. rowbotham@trinitymirror.com, or write to the Observer at 34 Upper Craigs, Stirling, FK82DW.

Petrol receipts have been redacted