from Sunday Herald, 22 June 2008
They urge everyone else to leave their cars at home to help save the planet, then they jump into theirs.
The board members of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) made five times more journeys by car than by train last year - and claimed ten times more in expenses for them.
SEPA’s former chairman, Sir Ken Collins, managed to rack up a bill of £3,173 for 106 trips in his car, while only claiming £1.20 for two train fares. Before he stepped down at the end of December 2007, he also claimed £1,114 for 64 taxi trips.
SEPA’s advice to the public is only to use private cars as a last resort. Its own environmental policy, for which the chairman is ultimately responsible, is to “encourage the use of public transport by its employees wherever appropriate.”
The agency also runs a free shuttle bus service from Stirling railway station to its corporate headquarters just outside the town. “Visitors to any of SEPA’s Stirling offices are encouraged to use this service,” it says.
Details of travel claims made by ten board members in 2007 have been released by SEPA in response to a request under freedom of information law. Overall they claimed £6,647 for 194 car journeys, compared to £656 for 35 train journeys.
All but eight of the train journeys were made by three board members: the chair of Friends of the Earth Scotland Dr Helen Zealley, the former Scottish Power director Fred Dinning, and SEPA’s chief executive Campbell Gemmell (see table below).
But the other seven board members mostly chose to use their cars, with four of them not making any claims for train journeys in 2007. Aside from Collins, the most expensive car-user was Brian Clark, a professor of environmental management at Aberdeen University, who claimed £1,643 for 18 car journeys.
“These are busy people from a range of backgrounds but it is very disappointing that many of them have made so little use of public transport,” said Dr Richard Dixon, director of the environmental group, WWF Scotland.
“It is particularly poor that the former chair has set such a poor example. The new chair is going to have to do considerably better if he is to earn the respect of SEPA's staff and stakeholders.”
David Sigsworth, the former Scottish and Southern Energy executive who now chairs SEPA, has claimed £650 for 37 car journeys and £28.30 for two train trips between 8 October 2007 and 31 April 2008.
Car parking spaces are regularly reserved for board members when they have meetings at the Stirling office. This has irritated staff, who are currently engaged in an industrial dispute with SEPA’s management over pay regrading.
SEPA pointed out that the chairmen had the highest claims because they had to attend the most meetings. “Board members use public transport wherever possible but, given the spread of members’ home locations and their other commitments, it is not always a feasible option,” said a SEPA spokeswoman.
“The time taken to travel by public transport can mean it is not a viable option when moving between meetings and attending other commitments. Car sharing is also used wherever possible.”
Collins, who was a Labour MEP for 20 years, could not be contacted for a comment. Brian Clark, who left SEPA’s board at the end of 2007, said that he used public transport when he could.
But the need to fit in extra meetings and to get home to Aberdeen at night meant that he often had to use his car. “With public transport, I couldn’t lead the busy life I lead,” he said.
Full details of the travel expenses claimed by board members of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency can be downloaded here (84KB pdf).
How some SEPA board members travelled to meetings in 2007
name / journeys by private car / cost // journeys by train / cost
Sir Ken Collins (former chairman) / 106 / £3,173 // 2 / 80p
Brian Clark / 18 / £1,643 // 0 / 0
Lesley Bloomer / 16 / £283.20 // 0 / 0
Campbell Gemmell (chief executive) / 3 / £17.11 // 5 / £158
Helen Zealley / 2 / £76 // 5 / £33
Fred Dinning / 1 / £50 // 17 / £355
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