1036

June 1 - 7 2011 No. 1036

THE WEEKLY WORLD EDITION OF The Daily Telegraph AND The Sunday Telegraph telegraph.co.uk/expat

The Telegraph

MESSI MAGIC Man United humbled in Champions League final

:: SPORT PAGE 46

Slim Samantha is queen of beach in Ibiza

Mladic held Family fight extradition of ‘Beast of Bosnia’ :: NEWS P7

Obama visit President in London (and Ireland to find his apostrophe) :: NEWS P12-14

By Heidi Blake and Conrad Quilty-Harper TENS of millions of pounds has been spent on taxpayerfunded credit cards by council staff and councillors who have treated themselves to firstclass travel and stays in fivestar hotels, The Telegraph can disclose.

Despite being ordered to cut spending by almost 30 per cent, town hall chiefs have continued to indulge in dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants, trips abroad and expensive gifts including iPads and video games, while slashing jobs and scrapping front-line services.

An investigation by The Telegraph has uncovered details of apparently questionable spending decisions by local government officials and politicians, with more than £2million spent on travel over the past three years, including flights to Thailand, Kenya and Bermuda.

It also emerged that civil servants at the Department for Communities and Local Government – charged with cutting council waste – spent thousands of pounds at some of the country’s top restaurants, bought theatre and exhibition tickets, and went on supermarket shopping sprees at the public’s expense.

The records of their spending over the two years before the election, which totals £856,000, have been obtained by The Telegraph. Whitehall departments are now preparing to publish details of spending by their officials in the next few weeks, with some fearing that a scandal similar to the MPs’ expenses furore may develop.

Last week, when asked about the expenditure by his officials, Eric Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, said: “The government procurement card was Labour’s flexible friend, maxed out to fund an

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SAMANTHA CAMERON, who gave birth only nine months ago, looked trim and toned as she relaxed at the beach with her family at the weekend.

Both she and the Prime Minister have employed the celebrity personal trainer Matt Roberts to whip them into shape since their daughter Florence was born in August. Mrs Cameron has been seen dashing around London parks on 7am runs.

The Camerons have been relaxing in the sun after a week spent hosting Barack Obama’s visit to Britain followed by the G8 summit in Deauville, France.

Although Mr and Mrs Cameron spent a short break in Spain to celebrate her 40th birthday in April, this is their first family holiday since their trip to Cornwall last year, when their second daughter was born.

Mrs Cameron and Florence, flew out to Ibiza last Friday morning. That night she went to a dance music party with friends, along with 2,500 rave music fans.

The event in the historic Old Town was the climax of the International Music Summit, the world’s leading electronic music conference.

The Prime Minister flew out on the budget carrier easyJet with their two older children, Arthur, five, and Nancy, seven, who are on half-term.

The couple also enjoyed some time alone (pictured) to wander through the village of Santa Gertrudis in the middle of Ibiza.

Laura Roberts

Fifa farce Blatter last man standing in bribery civil war :: SPORT P48

‘I can hear the names of all the celebrities with super-injunctions’ Ryan Giggs revealed as footballer behind gagging order, page 8