The spending of more than £17,000 on chauffeurs by the region’s Labour mayor has been dubbed “excessive, shocking, eyewatering and unjustifiable” by opposition parties.
This follows extensive work into the amount of money spent by Claire Ward, East Midlands Mayor, on chauffeurs since March 2025.
Data published by the East Midlands Combined County Authority shows that in the 13 months from March last year to April 2026, Ms Ward has spent £17,733 on chauffeurs described as “luxury, executive, premium and high-end”.
In March this year, we reported on data for March to August 2025, with no further data available at that time, showing £1,508 spent on chauffeurs.
Following this, in May,reporters successfully lobbied for the remaining data up until February 2026 to be published, showing a further £7,820 on chauffeurs.
Now data for March and April 2026 has been made available showing a further £8,405 on chauffeurs for Ms Ward in those two months alone – nearly as much as the previous year combined – totalling £17,733.
This is more than eight months worth of wages – before tax – for the lowest paid workers at the four councils which form the combined authority.
Here are the rates for the lowest paid employees at each of the four constituent councils which make up the combined authority:
- Nottingham City Council – £24,413
- Derbyshire County Council – £24,519
- Derby City Council – £24,796
- Nottinghamshire County Council – £25,949
The new data includes 14 different payments for chauffeurs, with the lowest being £330 and highest being £990.
Ms Ward has an annual salary of £93,000 and can also claim expenses.
Previously, the combined authority detailed the company name of the chauffeur, namely Pinnacle, in Stapleford, and Blacklane, in the USA, but it no longer specifies a company – merely listing the incorrectly spelt “chauffer”.
For the third time Ms Ward has been asked to respond on her use of chauffeurs she has chosen not to do so, with a statement provided by a spokesperson for the combined authority instead.
The statement details the need to make efficient use of time, retain safety and to attend meetings across a broad geographical area – covering a combined 1,900 square miles.
It says Ms Ward does also make use of her personal car and public transport, with various claims also made on the Government procurement card for parking fees.
Political parties across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire have made clear that while there are security and time constraints to contend with, the amount of expenditure on chauffeurs by the politician with the region’s public transport brief is too much and, at best, not a good look.
Councillor Alex Dale, Conservative opposition leader on Derbyshire County Council, said: “While the Mayor has an important role to carry out across a large region, a spend of more than £17,000 on chauffeur-driven travel in just 13 months strikes me as very excessive.
“Residents rightly expect elected representatives to provide value for money, particularly at a time when many families are feeling the squeeze from the rising cost of living.
“I struggle to see how this level of spending can be justified and why travel by car or public transport, like everyone else, hasn’t been considered in these cases.”
Councillor Lucy Care, Liberal Democrat group leader on Derby City Council, said: “It seems a lot. I would like to know more about the purpose of the journeys and whether those journeys could have been taken by more sustainable modes of transport.
“She is supposed to be supporting cycling and public transport use. It would be good that as far as possible she is leading herself in doing that.
“There can be good reasons for needing to be driven somewhere. She is obviously a high-profile person and if she is doing a public role she needs to be accompanied, but how many of these visits were needed for the job, how many were for publicity purposes and for how many could she have been accompanied on public transport?”
Councillor Rachael Hatchett, speaking on behalf of the Green Party group on Derbyshire County Council, said: “I appreciate that Mayor Claire’s time is precious and I also appreciate there are security considerations in her travel, but it means that the Mayor is isolated from the realities of everyday life for public transport users and I would urge her to improve our bus network so people have better options than using their cars, especially at a time of high fuel costs.
“It would be good to see Mayor Claire mixing public transport with her use of chauffeur-driven cars.”
Councillor Teresa Cullen, Broxtowe Alliance member of Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “I do not understand. Unless she has lost her driver’s licence, why does she need to be taken everywhere by chauffeur? That is a shocking amount of money to claim for a chauffeur.
“I can’t see any justification for it. I am not the Mayor and I don’t have to cover the whole of the East Midlands, but I have been a councillor since 2015 and I have never claimed any expenses, let alone for a chauffeur to take me anywhere.
“When I was Mayor of Broxtowe I refused to have a taxi or a chauffeur to take me anywhere because I thought it was a waste of public money.
“I do think it is a waste of money. That is an eye-watering sum of money to spend on chauffeurs. That sum of money could have paid for something that could have made a difference.
“In my county council ward in Beeston Central and Rylands we have got a real problem with our bus service, run by a charity, who simply do not have the money to run it efficiently, so people are constantly contacting me to say their bus hasn’t turned up and can’t get to doctor’s appointments or to work.
“£17,000 would have probably been enough money to make that bus service – the 18 bus route from Stapleford to Nottingham, run by Nottingham Community Transport – efficient for a year and that is what is at stake. It is shocking.”
Cllr Cullen, who travels across Nottinghamshire in her councillor role and also as chief executive of a charity, said: “It isn’t a waste of my time. I have Bluetooth and can have conversations and it is a great time to consider things while concentrating.
“For £17,000 you could probably employ somebody as an actual driver.
“You can get across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire by train and you can work easily on a train and it is more efficient than the back seat of a car.”
Cllr Stephen Reed, deputy leader of the Reform UK administration on Derbyshire County Council, said: “The Mayor was elected by the people of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and it is up to her in her role as Mayor how she spends their money.”
A combined authority spokesperson said: “EMCCA is a large regional authority covering a population of 2.2 million people.
“The Mayor of the East Midlands, as a significant elected figure in the region, is expected to represent the region at a range of meetings, events and engagements with external partners and stakeholders across its geography, with a particular emphasis on attracting new investment into the region and supporting the local economy whenever possible.
“Travel arrangements are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account operational requirements, efficiency, safety, confidentiality and the ability to work while travelling.
“While we make every effort to arrange engagements in the same area where possible, there are occasions when the Mayor is required at multiple meetings and events in different parts of the region on the same day.
“On those occasions, using a driver allows the Mayor to use travel time productively for calls, briefings, meetings and correspondence rather than spending several hours behind the wheel.
“The Mayor also uses public transport and her own vehicle where appropriate, with travel arrangements determined by the requirements of any given day.
“All expenditure is subject to the authority’s governance processes and is assessed to ensure it is necessary, proportionate and represents value for money. Spending is published regularly in the interests of transparency.”
