Shoes, coffee pods and celebrity cut-outs – these are just some of the things that civil servants have been splashing taxpayers’ cash on with special credit cards.
The so-called Government Procurement Cards (GPCs) are used to cover costs by staff in several departments.
Currently, the maximum spend on hospitality using the cards – typically used by diplomats and people in trade roles – is £2,500.
But the cards – of which there are 20,000 in total – are set to be frozen this week and the maximum spend slashed, as the government tries to cut down on ‘wasteful spending’.
Everyone who uses one of the cards will now have to reapply for them and justify why they need one.
It comes after Foreign Office staff used the system to pay for £2,493 of shoes at a fashionable shop in Barbados and £2,479 at online shop DJ Superstore.
Foreign Office staff also spent £673 on a website that sells cardboard cutouts of celebrities such as Harry Styles and the Spice Girls, the Mail reported.
Between July and October last year, the Foreign Office bought £49,511 worth of beer, wine and spirits at venues across the world.
At the Cabinet Office, staff spent £742 on Nespresso coffee pods last November and £531 the month before.
Yesterday, the government announced almost all GPCs will be frozen this week and cardholders will be asked to reapply and justify they actually need them.
The Cabinet Office said the move was expected to cut the number of cards in circulation by around half.
Meanwhile, the maximum spend will be cut from £2,500 to £500 – and any spending above that will require approval.
More Trending
Cabinet Office minister Pat Mcfadden said the move would ‘ensure taxpayers’ money is spent on improving the lives of working people’.
He added: ‘It’s not right that hundreds of millions of pounds are spent on government credit cards each year, without high levels of scrutiny or challenge. Only officials for whom it is absolutely essential should have a card.
‘Our clampdown on government credit cards will deliver savings that can be used to drive our Plan for Change – securing our borders, getting the NHS back on its feet and rebuilding Britain.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Full list of PIP disability benefit changes after Government unveils welfare reforms
MORE: People on UK ‘paradise’ islands unite to block deal handing them to Mauritius
MORE: Bereavement leave for miscarriage will ‘acknowledge the pain’ of loss
