An FOI has revealed the mayoral car used in Reading was a Tesla Model 3 and that the council spent tens of thousands on it.
Itemised spending shows £12,768 was paid in 2021/22 and £18,604.40 in 2022/23 – a total of £31,372.40.
Councillor Rachel Eden (Labour, Whitley) was photographed being dropped off in the car outside Reading Town Hall in October 2022, sparking controversy after whoever was driving parked on double red lines.
The Tesla was hired from March 2021 until the agreement was discontinued in May 2023. Cllr Eden (mayor November 2021–May 2023) and her predecessor, Cllr David Stevens (mayor March–November 2021), would have used it. The hiring ended when Tony Page became mayor.
Since then, mayors have mainly used public transport or taxis. Spending on the car service fell to £3,477.40 in 2023/24 and £2,420.13 in 2024/25, when Cllr Glenn Dennis (Labour, Kentwood) was mayor.
A council spokesperson said: “The mayor’s travel expenses to and from mayoral engagements in 2024/25 amount to around 12 per cent of the travel expenses in previous years when a mayoral car was routinely used to transport the mayor to and from engagements.
“The use of a mayoral car was discontinued in May 2023, and there are no plans to reintroduce it.
“The mayor in 2024/25 used his own bus pass for the vast majority of travel to mayoral engagements.”
Cllr Dennis said: “In terms of expenses, I made every effort to keep costs to an absolute minimum.
“As the council already clarified, I used my own bus pass for the vast majority of engagements, relying on taxis only when safety concerns and late-night travel made that a necessity.
“Travel costs during my term were significantly lower than previous years when the mayoral car was routinely provided.”
A previous FOI by The Tax Payers’ Alliance found the council spent £61,345, around £20,000 per year, in the three years leading up to 2018.
Cllrs Rachel Eden and Glenn Dennis are seeking re‑election in the council elections on Thursday, May 7. Cllr Stevens previously served as a Conservative for Thames ward from 2004 to 2022, and was re-elected as Labour representative for Abbey ward in 2024.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
