South Wales Evening Post - 5 February 2008
A Swansea councillor has accused his fellow elected members of misusing free tickets for the Liberty Stadium.
Councillors are each given an allocation of up to 40 tickets per season to watch Swansea City or the Ospreys at the £27 million stadium. They are supposed to be used as rewards for charities, community groups and hard-working constituents.
Now, Independent councillor Ray Welsby has claimed some council members are regulars at the Liberty Stadium, after taking advantage of the tickets themselves. However, an authority spokesman challenged anyone with evidence of abuse of the system to come forward so it can be properly investigated.
After blowing the whistle on his colleagues, Councillor Welsby added: "I also know for a fact that some councillors give them to their relatives."
However, he could not say which of his fellow members were making use of the free tickets.
The cheapest tickets for the Ospreys' next home game against Irish province Connacht are £10, while tickets for Swansea City's next Liberty Stadium fixture against Walsall start at £16.
The Mynyddbach councillor is now calling on the council to publish details of who has used big match tickets this season and who they gave them to. He said: "I would like the council to print in the Evening Post how much it costs."I feel that the 40 tickets should go to the charities who request them."
A Swansea Council spokesman confirmed that the authority dished out 400 tickets per year to members.
He said these could be used to recognise and reward members of the community, with each member able to give out up to 10 per match and 40 per season.
"This is a fantastic way of rewarding members of the community at no extra cost to the council," he added.
"Should there be any evidence of councillors abusing the situation, this needs to be provided in order that it can be investigated.
"We were asked by Councillor Welsby to provide information on which councillors have received tickets for this season's fixtures at the Liberty Stadium so far. We acted upon this request."
