Olympic torch parade cost £800,000
PARADING the Olympic torch through Scottish communities cost thepublic purse £800,000 to date.
Councils and police spent the cash on security, CCTV, extra bins, safety barriers, flags, and a host of entertainment for the week-long event in June this year.
Figures released under theFreedom of Information Act show that at least £816,191 was spent on the torch relay.
The final total is likely to be much higher because figures were provided by only one of the nation’s eight police forces.
Strathclyde alone spent £195,000 to police the relay.
Among the biggestspending councils was Edinburgh, which spent £95,000 on the torch relay.
Even though the torch was paraded on major public roads, the council’s spend included £49,000 on “venue hire”.
East Renfrewshire spent £59,329, including £4840 on “flags for school children and school name markers for route”.
Aberdeen City Council spent £86,196 on the event, including £244 on “balloon modellers”. It also shelled out £3000 for “additional CCTV”.
North Lanarkshire Council, which has reduced free transport for school pupils and removed the community warden service, spent £11,484.47 on the torch parade, including £7000 to purchase “branded street dressing materials”. Dundee City Council revealed it spent £30,000 just on “the provision of safety barriers”.
Glasgow’s £25,007.90 bill included £870.06 on recycling bins and £1440.00 on four towtrucks.
Renfrewshire spent £31,485, including a £6000 grant from Creative Scotland, on pianists, T-shirts and circus performers.
The Scottish leg of the nationwide event saw people carry the flame from the south-west to Glasgow, then to Inverness and Orkney and Shetland, before travelling to Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and the Borders.