City of York Council’s Sonja Crisp in expenses row

Documents have shown travel and subsistence costs for Coun Sonja Crisp, City of York Council’s cabinet member for leisure, culture and tourism, between April and August were more than four times those for six of her front bench colleagues combined.

One London trip in July, for meetings with the Local Government Association (LGA) board and with Visit England and tourism and culture ministers, led to a £147 hotel bill being claimed that month and another £199 hotel claim submitted in August. Coun Crisp said she was representing the city “at the highest level”.

The council paid £340 for her to attend an April conference in Chester on “boosting the economy through culture, tourism and sport”.

Liberal Democrat councillor Nigel Ayre said: “Labour need to explain to local taxpayers why they are choosing to spend public money in this way rather than fixing potholes, cleaning streets or providing salt bins this winter.”

Coun Crisp said claims were not always processed in the same month as the costs they relate to, and it was “sometimes prudent” to book travel or hotels at different times to get “value for money”, as with her August claim.

She said: “I attended an LGA board meeting with Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour colleagues from all over the country, who are keen to represent their areas and get their voices heard at the highest level.

“York had no national profile under the Liberal Democrat council so it was unsurprising that administration performed so badly, when nobody in the LGA or Government ever saw or spoke to anybody running the council.”

However, Coun Ayre said York won “national recognition” in a number of council service areas and secured the Olympic Torch Relay under the Lib Dems, saying: “It’s quite astounding that Coun Crisp tries to have us believe the LGA had never heard of York before Labour, especially as they held their Culture, Tourism and Sport conference in the city in March 2011.”