Liz Truss oversaw a major jump in spending on government credit cards at the Foreign Office when she took over, a Guardian analysis shows, with spending on restaurants, bars, leisure activities and hotels all rising sharply during her time in office.
An analysis of data collated by the Labour party shows officials spent far more on procurement cards under the former prime minister than they had under her predecessor, Dominic Raab.
Truss is already under pressure to explain a number of items of spending which she approved, including meals at high-end restaurants, large social functions and the use of Heathrow’s VIP suite. The Guardian analysis suggests that she oversaw a broader culture of high spending when she was in one of the most powerful jobs in government.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said: “Liz Truss’s track record of disrespect for taxpayers’ money and reckless spending should have rung warning sirens, but instead the Conservative party elected her as leader.”
The data comes from a database of more than 65,000 individual items of spending which Labour has collated through publicly available information.
The party said over the weekend that the cards, which allow officials to pay quickly and easily for items worth up to £20,000, had led to a “catalogue of waste”, and promised to set up a new regulator to monitor their use.
Number 10 on Monday defended the use of the cards, saying they helped cut transaction costs and therefore government waste.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Everyone who spends taxpayers’ money is aware that they are doing just that. As a government we are very responsible in how we use these cards, but it’s important to understand that they are there to serve a purpose and the [National Audit Office] estimates that using these cards typically saves about 35% in transaction costs.”
The Foreign Office is one of the heaviest users of the cards, often using them to pay for food, wine, events and furnishings for their offices and residences around the world.
A Foreign Office source said over the weekend that officials needed to spend on cards to be able to engage with dignitaries from other governments. But the information uncovered by Labour showed that they often spent heavily on events involving Truss even when no foreign dignitary was present. In November 2021, for example, she and her team enjoyed two meals in Jakarta during a trip to Indonesia at a cost of £1,443.
The Guardian’s analysis of the full figures show a marked increase in spending on GPCs under Truss, albeit during a period during which travel and entertainment became easier as lockdowns and travel bans eased.
In the 11 months from October 2021 to when she became prime minister in September 2022, the department spent just over £30m on the cards – 50% more than the last full 11 months of Raab’s tenure.
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Labour has published more detailed data for 2021, which shows that during Raab’s nine months in office, officials spent £114,363 on “leisure activities”. In the three months of Truss’ tenure, this came to £158,304.
During Raab’s nine months, civil servants spent £134,016 on restaurants and bars, compared with £228,637 during Truss’ much shorter tenure.
And while Raab’s Foreign Office spent £640,660 on hotels in 2021, that increased to £668,378 when Truss was foreign secretary.
Both the Foreign Office and a spokesperson for Truss declined to comment.
Meanwhile, officials have defended the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, against claims he overspent while in charge at the Treasury. A spokesperson pointed out that the then chancellor stayed at five-star Hotel Danieli in Venice during a G20 meeting in 2021 because it was on a list of officially recommended hotels.