20 000 government credit cards will be frozen

As part of an effort to curb wasteful spending, the Cabinet Office has ordered government departments and agencies to freeze nearly all 20,000 credit card accounts.

Civil servants who have government procurement cards are required to reapply for them and prove that they need them. The cards will be canceled at the end of each month if they do not.

The mass freeze will only apply to a small number of credit cards used for operational purposes, such as diplomatic staff in unstabile environments.

Pat Mcfadden said, “We must make sure that taxpayers’ dollars are spent to improve the lives of workers.”

It’s wrong that government credit cards are used to spend hundreds of millions each year without any scrutiny or challenges. Only those officials who are absolutely necessary should be able to have a credit card.

Departments will be instructed to only approve the minimum amount of new cards. At least 50% of the cards in use are expected to be fewer.

Cabinet Office stated that although some credit cards were operationally required to deliver services, their use has quadrupled over the past four financial years. The amount spent on these cards reached more than PS600 million during the last fiscal year.

This move is part a drive to reduce wasteful expenditure across the government. It includes making it easier and quicker to remove bad performers from their posts.

The maximum amount of hospitality, which is often required for officials in trade and diplomatic roles, will be reduced from 2,500 PS to 500 PS. Director-general approval is required for any expenditure above PS500.

Civil servants are also prohibited from using cards when there is a departmental, or cross-government, procurement route. These routes offer better value by purchasing common goods and services at scale, such as booking official travel or training, office supplies, etc.

McFadden ordered the review of the cards following media reports of examples of wasteful spending. The Times revealed last month that thousands of pounds were spent on dinners at private members clubs, crystal glassesware and premium English sparkling wines.

Comment

u/royalblue1982 is a discussion by

TheCivilService

Officials from departments have been instructed to review the spending on Government Procurement Cards (GPCs). When they find examples of cards that are not in line with the guidance, they’ve been instructed to take disciplinary actions and revoke the card.

One anonymous user wrote on the unofficial Sub-Reddit: “There are clearly cases where these tools are being misused, and if you want to set up more universal rules then that is fine.”

“But talking to the commercial team at my department, using the GPC for purchases below PS1k (which is our rule) is actually cheaper for the department than the other procurement routes.

Without a GPC, you have three options: buy from an approved supplier already (often more costly), get quotes and setup a new provider (extremely difficult and time-consuming) or pay yourself and expense (not always practical with expense rules or possible depending on the item you are buying).

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