COLCHESTER Council spent more than £1,600 on funding overseas trips for officials last year, including the leader’s visit to Paris after he was invited to the King’s speech at the National Assembly.

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted by the Gazette show a breakdown of how much money the authority spent last year on foreign trips for officials, where they went, and why.

Two overseas visits took place in February 2023, with a third in March.

The Gazette can reveal the first trip, on February 9-10, involved two officials travelling to Belgium.

Course - one of the officials who went to Belgium for a university module is from the North Essex Parking Partnership, according to information from the FOICourse - one of the officials who went to Belgium for a university module is from the North Essex Parking Partnership, according to information from the FOI (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest) The council has not named the two officers, due to data protection laws, but the authority could reveal why they were there.

Both are enrolled in a chartered manager degree apprenticeship programme at the University Centre Colchester and are expected to receive a business and management degree accredited by the University of East Anglia at the end of their course, a council spokesman said.

The trip to Belgium was said to be a mandatory component for the business module, which required them to travel to Odisee University in Brussels.

The FOI request also revealed one of the officials is from the North Essex Parking Partnership and the overall cost of travel and accommodation for both involved was £622.42.

The same month, the council paid £398.71 so a member of the authority – who again has not been named – could return to the UK from France by ferry to attend a full council meeting.

The council said both of the February trips were covered after the officials involved submitted claims under the council’s travel and subsistence policy.

In March of last year, council leader David King had £598.17 of expenses paid so he could attend a meeting of the National Assembly in Paris after receiving an official invitation.

Mr King said such trips are rare and that it was the only one he had made since he was elected six years ago.

He said: 'Most council business is online or local without cost to the public purse.

Rare - David King said such trips were rare and important to build relationshipsRare - David King said such trips were rare and important to build relationships (Image: George King, Newsquest) “But it is important, for relationships and to be effective, to meet others in person and if needed, to travel.

“Abroad is very rare. This my only trip since becoming a councillor in 2018.”

The total cost to the council for all three trips was £1,619.30.