Council spending on foreign trips causes division
Getty ImagesMore than £12,000 in spending being approved for foreign travel for Edinburgh councillors and officers has sparked division.
Councillors on the policy committee signed off on a number of trips, including the Lord Provost and two others taking business-class flights to New York for Tartan Week - a celebration of Scottish links to the Big Apple.
SNP councillor Stuart Dobbin said "no tangible benefit" to Edinburgh had been highlighted.
However, finance convener and Labour councillor Mandy Watt said it was important Edinburgh was represented.
The total cost of travel to New York sits at £6,500, while the travel of a council officer to a transport conference in Barcelona came in at about £1,000.
And the visit of four council officers to the start of the Tour de France, also in Barcelona, is estimated to cost £5,000.
A report to the committee said the trip was "essential" before Edinburgh hosts the same event in 2027.
Dobbin, the SNP group's finance spokesperson, said that the money should go towards council services instead.
Watt said: "As Scotland's capital, it's important that we're represented on the international stage along with other major cities - including others from Scotland - as a means of promoting the city, building relationships with leaders from around the world and learning from our counterparts in different countries."
