THE leader of cash-strapped Glasgow City Council is facing criticism after spending thousands of pounds of public money to have his closest aides accompany him to Labour Party conferences.
Gordon Matheson is under fire after almost £4000 was spent on hotels, flights, train tickets, cab fares and restaurants for his adviser Paul Kilby and principal policy officer, Dominic Dowling.
The cash, which was spent attending four conferences, was hinted at in an obscure public record but only fully disclosed after freedom of information requests by the Sunday Herald.
Taxpayers forked out £2250 to send Kilby to Scottish Labour gatherings in Inverness and Perth in April 2013 and March 2014 respectively, as well as UK Labour conferences in Brighton and Manchester in September 2013 and September 2014.
In addition, almost £1500 was used to send Dowling to the same two conferences in Scotland and the UK Labour conference in Brighton.
The public purse covered delegate fees for both men, dining out at the conference, rail travel and flights for the Brighton 2013 conference.
The biggest expenditure was on hotel bills, which cost a total of £2125, of which £894 went on putting the two men up at Brighton's Regency-period Topps Hotel for three nights.
Although Matheson went to all four conferences, the council insisted it "did not incur any costs" in relation to his attendances.
In October, Matheson warned the council faced more cuts to bridge a £28.9 million budget gap next year.
He blamed the Scottish Government for "subjecting the people of Glasgow to year after year of disproportionate cuts" while boasting of the council's "clear political leadership and sound financial planning".
Both Kilby and Dowling have longstanding connections to the Labour Party.
Kilby, an adviser to Matheson since May 2012, was previously a researcher to ex-Labour MSP Cathy Jamieson from 2000 to 2008.
Dowling was Labour's main organiser in Glasgow for the 2012 council elections. During the campaign, the Sunday Herald revealed he had previously admitted Labour was bland and uninspiring, had put in an "abysmal" performance at the 2011 Holyrood election, and was seen as "a party principally of English interests".
In contrast, Dowling described Alex Salmond as a "politician of genuine calibre".
However, after Labour defied expectations and held on to all but one of its councillors in Glasgow, Dowling was made policy officer to the city Labour group, then promoted to Matheson's office.
The use of public money to send Kilby and Dowling to Labour conferences was despite previous anger over public cash and Labour events in Glasgow.
In 2010, chief executive George Black banned council spinoff companies from spending on political events, after the Sunday Herald revealed one firm, City Building, donated £2000 to Labour by hosting a table at a fundraising dinner and spent more than £50,000 on exhibition space at Labour conferences.
At the time, City Building's managing director was the husband of a Glasgow Labour councillor, its chairman was a Glasgow Labour councillor, and its "business development director" was Lesley Quinn, the former general secretary of Scottish Labour.
David Meikle, the sole Tory councillor in Glasgow, said: "It is concerning that taxpayers' money has been used to pay for council employees to attend Labour conferences."
The council last night defended the spending, and said an officer had once had his delegate fee paid for an SNP conference - although he claimed no other expenses.
A spokesman said: "The council employs a number of people to support the administration and the main opposition party in the council.
"Over the years, both parties have requested that these employees are permitted to attend their respective party conferences.
"The chief executive granted those requests as he believed there was a benefit to the council in those employees attending those conferences."
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