Officers at combined authority issue section 5 “unlawful expenditure” report over plan to put image of mayor on side of bus

The monitoring officer and the section 73 officer at the West of England Combined Authority have issued a section 5 report alleging that the mayor's plan to place a 3m tall image of himself on a bus amounted to unlawful expenditure.

The report, authored by Daniel Dickinson, Interim Director of Legal Services (Monitoring Officer), and Rachel Musson, the authority’s chief finance officer and Section 73 officer, suggests that the £10,000 design appears "reminiscent" of political campaign buses.

Mayor Dan Norris's bus wrap included three images of him with his dog alongside messages promoting his 'birthday fares' initiative, which allows residents to travel on busses for free in their birthday month.

One side of the wrap featured an image of him and his dog alongside the message: "Free Bus Travel In Your Birthday Month."

A second picture of him and his dog appeared on the other side of the double-decker underneath a message that said: "Be A Community Hero. Become A Bus Driver."

His image also featured on the back of the bus.

On 24 April 2023, by a combination of actions in the Mayoral Office, a requisition and purchase order to the value of £10,000 was raised, authorised, and issued, leading to the bus being wrapped, the s5 report says.

It adds: "The intention was to use the wrapped bus at a 'birthday fares' launch event on 23 May 2023. The reviewers conclude, based upon their interviews with officers who identify as being within the Mayoral Office, that the Metro Mayor issued a direct verbal instruction to procure the wrapping of the bus to an officer within the Mayoral Office."

The s5 report says there is evidence that the mayor planned for the wrapped vehicle to be in service for at least a year.

However, the combined authority's chief executive stepped in ahead of the launch event to stop the vehicle from appearing or being used in any capacity.

The report was issued under Section 5(2)(a) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and Section 114(2)(a) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, which place a statutory duty on the Interim Monitoring Officer and the Section 73 Officer respectively to report the matter.

The report, which is set to be considered by councillors on Friday (1 December), says the spending contravened the Government's 2011 Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity.

The Code, which was issued pursuant to Section 4(1) of the Local Government Act 1986, provides that publicity must be lawful, cost-effective, objective, even-handed, appropriate, have regard to equality and diversity, and be issued with care during periods of heightened sensitivity.

Under the heading of 'even-handedness', paragraph 24 of the Code states: "It is acceptable for publicity produced or hosted by local authorities to include a logo associated with a particular member of the authority, such as a directly elected mayor, or leader of the authority. Publicity material produced by local authorities relating to a particular member must not seek to affect public support for that individual."

The s5 report says that: "there is a legal objection to the way in which the promotion or publicity sought to be achieved by the bus wrap is [...] primarily and predominantly of the Metro Mayor himself."

The report says the wrap "appears to explicitly seek to affect public support of the Metro Mayor" and notes that it is reminiscent of political campaign buses.

It also notes that the images with his dog appear to be used as a personal brand or motif, appearing in several articles featuring the mayor and on political campaigning platforms, including his website and social media.

The report emphasises that Section 4(1) of the 1986 Act says: "Local authorities shall have regard to the provisions of [the] code in coming to any decisions on publicity."

If an authority is to depart lawfully from statutory guidance such as the Code, it must generally establish that it has cogent reasons to do so, the report adds.

It later notes that there is "no evidence that Code was taken into account (properly or otherwise) in arriving at a decision to incur expenditure on the wrap” and "no rational basis" has been articulated for departing from the Code.

The report says: "Thus, the basis upon which a public authority can legitimately depart from the Code have been contravened."

It also suggests the decision likely constitutes a breach of the fiduciary duty owed to taxpayers.

Dan Norris has been approached for comment.

However, the BBC has reported the mayor as saying: “When Labour first introduced directly elected mayors, the whole point was to have a face that the public could identify as being responsible and accountable for the policies that were being promoted and introduced.

"I remain steadfast in my view that mayors are meant to be visible and this was stated in my election manifesto on which I won. "

Adam Carey