Almost all of the around 20,000 Government Procurement Cards will be frozen this week after spending by departments and their agencies quadrupled over the last four years
Thousands of government credit cards will be cancelled in a huge crackdown on wasteful spending.
The Cabinet Office will this week order departments and their agencies to freeze almost all of the around 20,000 Government Procurement Cards. Civil Service cardholders will be forced to reapply and justify why they need them – and if they don’t the cards will be cancelled by the end of the month.
A tough new application process will be brought in to cut the number of cards in circulation by at least 50%. It comes after Keir Starmer vowed to reshape the “flabby” state and slash the cost of bureaucracy. Spending on the cards has quadrupled over the last four years. More than £675million was spent on government cards across central departments and agencies in the last financial year – compared to £155million in 2020/21.
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Among the lavish spending, the Foreign Office under the Tory government spent almost £2,500 at a shoe shop in Barbados called Show Crush in October 2023. In the same month, the department’s staff recorded a £673 payment to a website that provides life-size cardboard cutouts of celebrities. The site offers a full-size replica of Harry Styles, the One Direction singer, Queen Elizabeth II or celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay for £45 each.
In January of that year, the Foreign Office spent £920 at the Nassau Yacht Club in Barbados, £965 at a bowling club in Toronto, Canada, and £2,900 at an art deco cinema in Wellington, New Zealand. In November 2022 the Foreign Office spent £684 with a Lake District-based leisure company that offers activities including axe-throwing and clay pigeon shooting. And in the same month, it also spent £2,479 at DJ Superstore, which sells DJ equipment.
Under the Labour government’s changes, tighter new spending controls will be introduced, with the maximum spend for hospitality – often needed for officials working in trade or diplomatic roles – slashed from £2,500 to £500. Any spend over £500 will require Director General approval. Civil servants will also be barred from using cards for common goods and services that can be dealt with at scale instead – such as booking official travel, training or buying office supplies.
Some civil servants need the cards to deliver services for Government departments and agencies. Cards used by diplomatic staff in unstable environments will be among a small number exempt from the upcoming freeze.
Cabinet Office minister Pat Mcfadden said: “We must ensure taxpayers’ money is spent on improving the lives of working people. 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.”
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