Thousands spent on chauffeuring, restaurant hire, food-runs and waterpark and US-hotel stays for the East Mids Mayor and staff

East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward has played down fresh plans for trams in Derby. Image by LDRS.

By Eddie Bisknell – Local Democracy Reporting Service

Thousands of pounds have been spent on chauffeuring services, upmarket restaurant hire, M&S food runs, and waterpark and American hotel stays for the East Midlands Mayor and their staff.

Data disclosed by the East Midlands Combined Authority shows the amount of money which staff, including Labour’s East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward and the authority’s chief executive, have spent on Government-issued corporate credit cards.

The most recent monthly reports published by the authority are for August 2025, dating back to June 2024.

The authority has been asked where the missing six months of information are.

Ms Ward is paid £93,000 annually and Amy Harhoff, the authority’s chief executive, is paid £190,920, with both having access to a range of allowances.

The authority’s allowance policy says members are expected to travel by bus or standard class rail and to share journeys where possible, with taxis to be used in “rare circumstances”, overseas travel to represent “value for money” and take advantage of offers.

This corporate card usage sits outside the Mayor and chief executive’s allowances and salaries and is a lawful process made public through the Local Government Transparency Code 2015.

The combined authority stresses that its use of corporate cards is in line with other authorities of a similar size and was not an outlier.

Interrogation of the available reports by the Local Democracy Reporting Service shows:

• In July 2025, the Mayor’s office paid the Labour Party a total of £225 for conference and function expenses.
• In July 2025, the Mayor’s office paid £84.89 for hotel and meals at Great Wolf Lodge, which is planning three waterpark resorts in the UK, including a controversial 47-acre project near Clowne in north Derbyshire. This trip was to an existing facility in the USA, with the Mayor’s office also spending £429.64 for a stay at Hotel Zena in Washington DC, the day before the Great Wolf Lodge visit.
• Between March and July 2025, the Mayor’s office spent a total of £1,508 on six payments (three apiece) for chauffeuring services from “luxury” private providers Blacklane (mistyped as Backlane) and Aura Journeys.
• Between October and December 2024, the combined authority spent £3,854.16 on rooms and hospitality at the upmarket Cleaver and Wake restaurant and venue hire in Nottingham
• Between July and October 2024, the chief executive’s office spent £137.45 on two visits for food from M&S.

The combined authority told the LDRS that the Labour Party payments were to send two members of staff to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

It said the Mayor visited the Great Wolf Lodge facility in Perryville, Maryland, 80 miles north-west of DC, to get a sense of what the company has to offer, due to it having an interest in expanding into the UK.

The authority said the payments for chauffeuring from Blacklane were in relation to the USA trip.

For chauffeuring use in general, the authority said Ms Ward is not allowed to drive a pool car, under current legislation, and it was felt there was a need to uphold safety and confidentiality by hiring private vehicles with vetted drivers and Wi-Fi.

The authority also said that hiring a chauffeured car enabled the Mayor to continue working while travelling.

It said that due to the large geographic patch across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire it was felt it was better to hire a chauffeured vehicle to make the best use of time, though Ms Ward does occasionally drive herself.

The authority said the hiring of Cleaver & Wake was for a summer conference and for a strategic skills event, with a large venue suitable, near the train station, for inviting members of public and business leaders to.

It said that due to the lack of an office, it continually needed to hire other venues for meetings.

The M&S payments were felt to be a suitable option to buy food for events hosted by the authority instead of hiring a catering company, with Ms Harhoff hired as chief executive in February 2025, after both payments.

An EMCCA spokesperson said: “The East Midlands Combined County Authority is a large, regional strategic authority with a remit, driven by the Mayor, to grow the economy and improve the lives of the region’s 2.2 million residents. 

“This and ensuring good value are our main priorities in all expenditure, with a particular emphasis on attracting new investment into the region and supporting the local economy whenever possible. 

“This is balanced alongside several factors, including managing public and private sector relationships, safety, confidentiality, and the ability to work while travelling.

“All expenditure is assessed to ensure it is necessary and legal and is published quarterly for transparency. Our activity and focus aligns with that of other combined authorities.”