£2k bill for council’s Danish waterpark trip
Officials’three-day stay at theme park
Three Stirling Council officials made a threeday fact-finding trip to Denmark at a cost of almost £2000, the Observer can reveal.
Council chief executive Carol Beattie and two other senior officers stayed at the tropical waterpark, Lalandia, and also met with officials of LEGO, the Danish company behind the children’s plastic construction toys.
The trip took place 15 months ago.
In response to two Freedom of Information requests, the council said the massive Lalandia complex fits the profile and scale of the type of development the council hopes to attract to Callander as part of the £90.2m Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal.
Stirling Council’s annual accounts for 2019-20 show that in addition to her salary of £113,155 plus £4,880 for overseeing the 2019 General Election, Ms Beattie also claimed expenses of £1,917.
The council said this related to the total booking costs for a delegation of three council officers, including Ms Beattie, to attend an overseas event relating to the City Region Deal. Accompanying Ms Beattie were the council’s £85,488-a-year chief operating officer for people and performance Isabel Mcknight and senior manager for economic development and communities Stuart Oliver, whose annual salary is £74,205.
Receipts show that on August 22 last year they flew by Ryanair from Edinburgh to the Jutland town of Billund, 163 miles from the Danish capital Copenhagen, returning on August 25, 2019.
The council explained: “At the time of booking, the total amount was paid for using the chief executive’s personal credit card due to the amount payable exceeding the one-off transaction limit of the council’s purchase card.”
Only £639.06 of the total cost was attributable to the chief executive.
An invoice shows the total bill for the three officials comprised £44.99 for airport parking, £374.94 for flights, £1366.35 for three nights’ accommodation at Lalandia and £130.90 environmental tax.
Asked about the purpose of the trip, the council said it was a “fact-finding mission related to several aspects of Stirling’s economic growth ambitions”.
“The delegation met with economic development and planning officials from the municipality of Billund to learn from their successful place development strategy,” they added.
Officers also met with officials at LEGO which has its headquarters in Billund. The town is also the location of the first Legoland Park which opened in 1968 and is next to the company’s original factory.
Ms Beattie and her colleagues discussed with officials of the company “its future global investment strategy and...our City Deal plans on skills and innovation”, the council said.
Results from the visit have not been formally reported to councillors, added officials.
However, the findings were reported to the leaders of the council’s political groups “to ensure they were aware of the potential opportunities and that they would continue to be developed”.
“The three attendees were senior officers of the organisation who briefed their officers upon return and have used the findings to inform thinking around several aspects of Stirling’s economic growth plans,” said the council.
Delegation met with planning officials to learn from their successful place development strategy