Civil service credit cards will be frozen this week under plans to reduce their numbers by 50 per cent and slash Government spending.
The Cabinet Office will order almost all of the 20,000 procurement cards used by civil servants to be frozen.
To regain access to the cards, civil servants will need to reapply and justify why they need them – or the cards will be cancelled at the end of the month.
Government records show civil servants spent taxpayer money on celebrity cardboard cut-outs, a Bahamas yacht club and Fortnum and Mason.
Spending on the credit cards jumped from £155m in 2020-21 to £675m in 2024-25.
The move comes after Sir Keir Starmer vowed to reshape the “flabby” state and slash the cost of bureaucracy.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden said the so-called government procurement cards should only be provided to officials when it is “absolutely essential”.
Some civil servants need the cards to deliver services for Government departments and agencies.
Fortnum and Mason’s and sparkling wine
A report by The Times found thousands of pounds has been spent by civil servants on meals at private members’ clubs, crystal glasses used in Downton Abbey and English sparkling wine since July’s election.
Cards from the Foreign Office were used to spend £2,400 at Cumbria Crystal, where a set of four Grasmere wine glasses costs £500.
There was £1,400 spent on Fortnum and Mason goods (Photo: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)There was also £1,400 spent at luxury department store Fortnum and Mason’s, £600 on Chapel Down sparkling wine and £741 on bespoke shoes from Carreducker.
And £810 was spent on a Home Office staff team-building exercise at an escape room in Kent, £872 on trophies for an awards ceremony, and £623 spenyt by the Foreign Office on tickets to the South By South West music and tech festival in Sydney.
David Lammy’s department spent £521,525 on “restaurants and bars” in the first four months of the Labour Government according to The Times report.
Spending at private members’ clubs included £2,240 at The British Club in Thailand, £975 at London’s Reform Club and £940 at The Kildare Street and University Club in Dublin, where members are banned from talking to the press.
Foreign Office officials also spent £998 on food and drinks on a visit to Sokha Beach Resort in Cambodia in September it is reported.
It has also been reported that more than £670 was spent in 2023 on a website that sells life-size cardboard cut-outs of celebrities including the late Queen, King Charles, Harry and Boris Johnson.
The same year, £920.30 was spent at Nassau Yacht Club on the Caribbean island of the Bahamas and £965.46 was paid at bowling club Danforth Bowl club in Toronto, according to Mail Online.
What will the spending cap be?
New spending controls will bring down the maximum spend for hospitality from £2,500 to £500, with anything over the new limit requiring approval from the director general.
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.
Cards used by diplomatic staff in unstable environments will be among a small number exempt from the freeze.
New application process
A strict new application process will be introduced on civil servant credit cards, with departments told to approve the minimum number possible.
It is expected the number of cards will be reduced by at least 50 per cent, according to the Government.
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.
“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.”
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