Ministers to Review Credit Card Usage After Civil Servants Spend £700 on Celeb Cutouts

Government Procurement Card Spending

Ministers are launching a review on credit card usage after civil servants blew nearly £700 of taxpayer cash at a celeb cutouts shop. Foreign Office mandarins coughed up £672 using an official procurement card in October 2023 at the online store selling cardboard replicas, the department’s accounts revealed. The Spice Girls, Harry Styles, and George Michael were among those available on the site.

Questionable Spending

The figures do not reveal what was bought — it was documented as being general retail. In the same month, the department also spent £2,493 in a Barbados shoe store, while £965 had been racked up at a bowling club in Toronto, Canada, in January 2023. In August, the Department for Education blew £715 with hotel chain Marriott on an away day event for staff.

Urgent Review Ordered

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden has ordered an urgent review of who can access the cards and what they are allowed to buy. A Government spokeswoman said last night: "We are fully focused on tackling wasteful spending and inefficiency across government."

Concerns Raised

Last month, Cabinet Office permanent secretary Cat Little told staff that she was concerned by high levels of outgoings and admitted some procurement card spending was "difficult to justify". The Foreign Office and the Department for Education were asked to comment.