A FOI request has uncovered a huge waste of public money by central government.
The Huffington Post reported that Tory Minsters have spent £400k on chauffeurs just to bring their red boxes to and from work
These vehicles carry no passengers just the red box that contains the ministers’ workload. Ex-PM vowed to clamp down on this exact waste of resources, but it clear not much, if anything, has been done about it.
It is another example of Government waste, in a time of ongoing austerity, with job cuts damaging peoples’ lives.
In the six years since the then coalition Government came to power almost £400,000 has been spent on the practice.
In 2016/17 £44,010 was splashed out on taking red boxes, without the appropriate minister, between departments and ministers’ homes in 2016/17. A three grand increase on the year before.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We are committed to ensuring the Government Car Service provides value for money for the taxpayer and have cut the costs of transporting dispatch boxes by over half from £110,865 in 2011/12 to £44,001 in 2016/17.
“There are occasions when the government car service is appropriate to move minister’s boxes in a secure manner for official business. All usage is governed by the Ministerial Code.”
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/mps-to-get-another-pay-rise-next-year-taking-increase-to-10k-over-2-years/15/12/
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/9-billion-spent-new-free-schools-old-ones-left-rot/22/02/