Whilst I know Labour spent money like it was going out of fashion, I do wonder if this daily mail story is not in fact stretching the truth? Heaven forbid they would do that eh?
"Renting cars" could also be redescribed as giving an employee a "car allowance". This is common practice as part of a salary package. I have one, plenty of others do.
The fact the manager gets £4500 each year towards the "rental" to me makes it sound like car allowance. That's only £375 a month (i think). Which while is a decent amount, it's more Ford Focus territory than Porsche Boxster. If the employee then chooses to add some of their own salary to get a faster/nicer car then that's their own perogative.