Spending taxpayer money on unnecessary branded merchandise and
staff ‘away days' will be banned in the latest crackdown on
wasteful spending across departments.
Staff training and development are key to boosting productivity,
but officials will now be instructed to hold training and
team-building exercises and ‘away days' in government buildings
that are available for free, instead of hiring external
venues.
Thousands of pounds have also been spent in recent years on goods
branded with department logos or slogans—including mugs, jumpers,
water bottles, and even fidget cubes.
Such spending will be banned, focusing funding where it matters
to working people such as rebuilding the NHS and strengthening
our borders.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, MP, said:
By cutting wasteful spending we can target resources at frontline
public services with more teachers, extra hospital appointments
and police back on the beat.
We will use taxpayers' money to deliver our Plan for Change,
kick-starting economic growth, rebuilding the NHS and
strengthening our borders.
The Cabinet Office has set out requirements for all departments
to review their policies on procuring corporate-branded and
non-essential merchandise, with a view to restricting future
purchases.
These stricter rules will permit government merchandise only when
essential for delivering the government's agenda, for example, in
overseas trade and diplomacy, to promote growth.
Further measures will require departments to ensure that external
venues for away days are only used when space in government
buildings is unavailable.
This announcement builds on plans to significantly reduce the
approximately 20,000 government credit cards in circulation. Last
week, all departments and their public bodies were instructed to
freeze their cards, with cardholders required to reapply under
tighter new guidelines.
