Pope's visit to Birmingham cost council £82,000

Jan 3 2011 by Kat Baldwyn, Birmingham Mail

THE Pope’s visit to Birmingham cost the city taxpayers almost £82,000, according to council figures.

The total included a £1,000 contribution to a gift for Pope Benedict XVI on behalf of the people of Birmingham.

Other expenses included £8,808 on a civic dinner to celebrate the life and work of Cardinal Newman and a £29,977 contribution to a performance of the Dream of Gerontius oratorio.

The city council also spent £3,411 on staffing and infrastructure and £16,605 on communicating with around 30,000 residents about route and road closures.

The authority said, while some information relating to costs may have been “inadvertently missed” due to the size and amount of information it held, expenditure was kept to a minimum.

The information was requested by the National Secular Society, which campaigns for the separation of Church and State and the abolition of privileges granted to religious organisations.

Society president Terry Sanderson disputed the council’s claim that the Pope’s visit provided £30 million worth of economic benefits for the city.

“There is no indication where the highly speculative £30 million figure came from or how it was calculated,” he said.