More than £2,000 was spent on travel for Reading's mayor over the last year, a freedom of information request shows.
Cllr Alice Mpofu-Coles (Labour, Whitley) became mayor a year ago and was the council's first Black female Mayor of a refugee background.
She has attended events including the opening of the new Thames Valley Police HQ and Global Combat Air Programme offices in Whitley, the Pride of Reading awards, kicking off the Half Marathon and unveiling the memorial for PC Andrew Harper.
The FOI shows a total of £2,094.88 on travel expenses in 2025/26. The biggest single spend was £425.68 on flights for the mayor and the Mayor's escort to a twinning visit to Clonmel, Ireland.
Reading has been twinned with Clonmel since 1994, which is home to the Bulmers cider factory.
There were no further overseas travel expenses for other twinned cities, though Cllr Mpofu-Coles has posted private visits to Phuket and Prague on Instagram. Prior to becoming mayor she visited Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in January last year.
The bulk of the spending - £1,669.20 - was on taxis for the mayor and deputy mayor Cllr Paul Gittings. Monthly taxi totals were:
- May - £254.40
- June - £199.20
- July - no expenses
- August - £104.20
- September - £268.80
- October - £213.60
- November - £104.40
- December - £72.00
- January - £84.00
- February - £64.80
- March - £303.60
On the use of taxis, an information officer said: "For context, the Mayor of Reading, alongside her deputy, have attended 263 community and charitable events throughout the Mayoral year so far, supporting residents, voluntary groups and local causes.
"It is also important to emphasise that Mayor or her Deputy will routinely attend these events following a direct invitation by community groups or charitable organisations themselves, who welcome their attendance.
"The Mayor and her deputy will routinely make their own way to these engagements and only make use of taxi when it is warranted, relying on taxis only when safety concerns and late-night travel make using them a necessity.
"The cost of the occasional use of taxis, when required, is significantly lower than the previous use of a Mayoral car, which was discontinued in 2023, with no plans to reintroduce it."
A spokesperson added: "Given the enormous value and contribution the Mayor brings to community organisations across the town by accepting invitations to their events, the council does not consider an average cost of £7.96 per event over the course of a year extravagant."
There were no train fares for UK events. The 2025/26 total of £2,094.88 was £325.25 less than the £2,420.13 spent in 2024/25. The previous year's largest single spend was £919.98 on flights for Cllr Glenn Dennis to a Euros match in Düsseldorf.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
