Beginner's Guide to Government Waste


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Full sources 

Page 2
£5.6 billion of wasted taxpayers’ money


Page 3
£102,456 cost of a wellness app for staff
Source: Contracts finder


Page 4
£449 spent on a Herman Miller office chair
Source: FOI


Page 5
£47,529 spent on takeaways
Source: FOI


Page 6
£3,299 on luxury dog beds for Border Force dog teams
Source: Home Office spending data
Row 67


Page 7
£70 on the speaking clock
Source: FOI


Page 8                      
£1,039 spent on a ‘sit-stand’ electric desk and chair
Source: FOI


Page 9                        
£2,253 for an event at Bristol Zoo
Source: DEFRA spending data
Row 5


Page 10   
£23,449 spent on travel
Source: HM Treasury spending data

Item  Amount £ 
Business class flight to Melbourne/Sydney. Business class flight, Richard Knox, 6 day visit to Melbourne and Sydney - external meeting                  4,426.75
Business class flight to Saudi Arabia - 5 day stay. Clare Lombardelli - Purpose: Meet with external bodies                4,330.47
Business class air travel to Washington DC. Michael Williams 5 day visit to DC                       4,100.00
First class flight to Washington DC. First class flight to Washington, 3 day visit to meet with external bodies - Veda Poon                    3,982.71
First class flight to Washington DC. Mark Bowman 3 day duration in Washington DC - meeting with external bodies                       3,902.66
Premium Economy trip to Paris. Mark Bowman - premium economy travel, duration of visit 1 day, purpose: internal meeting                          607.32
Business class travel to Brussels. Business class train travel to Brussels to attend an external meeting - David Lunn    494.50
Business class travel to Brussels. Business class train travel to Brussels to meet with external bodies- Katharine Braddick    494.50
Business class travel to Brussels. Mark Bowman, business class rail journey to Brussels: Meeting     494.50
Business class travel to Brussels. Business class train travel to Brussels to attend a conference - Katharine Braddick          494.50
First class train ticket to attend conference in Oxford. Senior official Beth Russell travelled first class to Oxford to attend a conference       120.80
Total              23,448.71

Page 11
Lavish meals paid for by you
Source: Departmental spending data

DEFRA London Scottish House  2,003
Cabinet Office The Delaunay   1,000
Dept. for International Trade Hoxton Grill   900
DBEIS The Cinnamon Club  655

Page 12-13                     
£6,372 paid to Harley Street clinic Cosmebeaute
Source: FCDO spending data, August 2020
Rows 38 and 42

£4,428 spent on ‘entertainment’ at Silverstone racetrack
Source: FCO spending data, March 2020
Row 119 

£25,831 on flowers
Source: FCDO spending data

Item  Amount £ Source
Flowers abroad 619.27 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-january-2020
Row 64
Flowers in London 600 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-january-2020
Row 117
Flowers abroad 1,467.72 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-january-2020
Row 388
Flowers abroad 540.33 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-january-2020
Row 1127 
Flowers abroad 533.46 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-january-2020
Row 1301
Flowers abroad 540.48 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-january-2020
Row 1610
Flowers abroad 1,009.92 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-january-2020
Row 1662
Flowers bought in Berlin 567.99 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-february-2020
Row 29
Flowers bought in Berlin 1,013.87 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-february-2020
Row 80
Flowers bought in Israel at Sod Yarok Ltd 685.87 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-february-2020
Row 247
Spending at the Lily Lodge florists in the USA 1,350.22 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-february-2020
Row 531
Spending at Yannick Suz florists in France 845.8 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-february-2020
Row 752
Spending at Q Gardens florist in Cyprus 1,181.46 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-february-2020
Row 925
Spending on florist supplies at Albrecht Gartentechnik in Germany 2,569.77 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-march-2020
Row 644
Spending at Sad Yarok Ltd florists in Israel 566.3 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-march-2020
Row 1529
Spending at Flower Power florists in Egypt 651.27 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-march-2020
Row 1713
Spending on florist supplies at Garden World in the USA 1,431.71 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-march-2020
Row 1792
Spending at Kadey Hasalom florists in Israel 2,080.85 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-march-2020
Row 1996
Spending at Rona Land florists in Romania 640.28 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-may-2020
Row 42
Spending on florist supplies at Albrecht Gartentechnik in Germany 978.09 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-may-2020
Row 637
Spending at Blomsterlandet florist in Sweden 900.56 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-may-2020
Row 766
Spending at Purple Rose Florist in Anguilla 560.95 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-july-2020
Row 392
Spending at Kadey Hasalom florists in Israel  1,863.69 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-july-2020
Row 579
Spending at Kadey Hasalom florists in Israel 1,579.09 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-july-2020
Row 634
Spending at Ukraflora florist in Ukraine 1,052.43 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-spending-over-500-august-2020
Row 744
Total 25,831.38  

Page 14
£206,638 on interior design spending and ‘facilities/repair supplies
Source: FCDO Services spending data and FCO spending data

Card purchases

Total Spend £

Colefax and Fowler (Belgravia)

32,198.53

Tom Faulkner (Chelsea)

28,218.00

Made.com

13,452.00

Ercol Furniture

11,681.90

John Lewis

10,801.90

Eco Timber Panels

8,367.29

Curtainscurtainscurtains.co.uk

7,963.00

Pierre Frey UK (Chelsea Harbour)

6,858.00

George Spencer Designs (Chelsea Harbour)

6,697.20

Oka Direct (Chelsea)

6,484.50

West Elm

6,250.95

Osborne & Little (Chelsea)

5611.82

Habitat

3,670.00

Regent Antiques

4,944.00

Littlepaint.com

4,939.18

Titley & Marr

4,466.88

Soho Home

3,750.19

Houlès (Chelsea Harbour)

3,097.20

Charlotte James Furniture

2,861.40

Complete Fabrication

2,780.64

I & JL Brown (Chelsea)

2,464.32

Kings Road Antiques

2,464.32

David Seyfried (Chelsea Harbour)

2,180.00

Pooky Lighting (Chelsea)

2,164.20

The Chair Company

2,136.62

Andrew Martin (Chelsea Harbour)

2,055.00

Fox Linton (Chelsea Harbour)

1,893.60

Wayfair

1,717.81

Blithfield and Company (Kensington)

1,448.28

Office Furniture Online       

1,374.60

Qualita

1,344.00

Designer Guild

1,312.80

Casefurniture.Com

1,186.50

Howe (Belgravia)

1,104.00

Timorous Beasties (Islington)

1,053.35

Bed, Bath and Beyond

972.94

Crest Leathers

957.37

Express Matting

947.84

Rugstore.org

831.99

Lewis & Wood (Chelsea Harbour)

734.16

House of Hackney

628.78

Rockett St George

570.50

Total:

£206,637.56


Page 15
£912,455 spent on investigating the effect of covid-19 on women’s rights in Libya
Sources: Contracts finder 


Page 16
£24,816 spent on PPE for the Ukrainian army
Source: Contracts finder


Page 17
£34,500 on 17 non-refundable flights
Source: FOI

£6,945 on first class flights for a 2-day trip to the US
Source: MoD expenses data
Row 529


Page 18-19
£432,071 acquiring artwork for government buildings
Source: FOI 
Table of artwork here

£34,865 transferring artwork to Tokyo
Source: Contracts finder


Page 20-21
15 councils spent £9,696 on portraits of council bosses to hang in town halls
Source: FOI 

Council  Amount £ 
Adur and Worthing                400.00
Barnet       250.00
Charnwood     671.40
Denbighshire   145.00
Derry City & Strabane      615.00
Devon                  470.61
Essex 3,759.00
Hertfordshire            581.00
Hertsmere         473.00
Milton Keynes                  500.00
Newport    890.00
North East Derbyshire                  218.50
Oldham              157.00
Rochford         340.00
South Lakeland     225.00
Total  9,695.51

Page 22
£17,258 spent on artwork
Source: FOI


Page 23
£401,615 to buy laptops and £181,023 on mobile phones for staff
Source: FOI


Page 24-25
44 hard-up councils spent £89,937 on foreign visits
Source: FOI

Council  Amount £ 
Anglesey       3,694.75
Angus       5,727.92
Antrim and Newtonabbey    12,820.67
Ards & North Down       4,262.16
Arun          147.50
Basingstoke       1,148.45
Bolton       1,835.08
Cambridge City           321.36
Cannock Chase       1,558.24
Canterbury          238.59
Charnwood       2,047.52
Chelmsford          283.06
Cheltenham       2,212.00
Chesterfield       1,564.37
Dartford       1,001.21
Dundee City       2,272.00
Eastleigh       1,548.80
Exeter       1,938.31
Fareham          586.97
Gravesham       1,251.85
Ipswich          172.00
Kettering          450.00
Knowsley       2,844.56
Lancashire       3,835.44
Lancaster          535.00
Leicester City       3,407.23
North East Lincolnshire       2,207.26
Norwich City        4,121.40
Oxfordshire       1,836.76
Pendle          376.50
Perth & Kinross       2,402.08
Plymouth          841.30
Portsmouth          380.54
Rotherham          104.00
Runnymede          335.96
Salford          821.88
Shetland       1,801.15
South Tyneside          643.96
Southampton       1,726.90
Staffordshire          602.27
Torbay          975.08
Wakefield    11,514.00
Windsor and Maidenhead          308.68
York       1,231.85
Total    89,936.61

Page 26
£245,026 on dog poo bags
Source: FOI 

Council Amount £
Bexley 2,174.00
Bournemouth 935.00
Bridgend County 8,000.00
Bristol City 935.70
Buckinghamshire 220.00
Cannock Chase 1,179.00
Castle Point 7,281.52
Central Bedfordshire 200.00
Chelmsford 3,400.00
Cherwell 10,421.60
Cheshire West and Chester 1,975.00
Chesterfield 195.00
Chorley 389.20
Dartford 783.30
Derry City & Strabane 1,507.50
Doncaster 3,000.00
Dumfries and Galloway 10,604.00
East Ayrshire 16,200.00
East Staffordshire 508.00
Falkirk 21,200.00
Fareham 396.58
Fenland 604.00
Flintshire 440.00
Gwynedd 1,300.00
Hart 440.20
Lambeth 3,000.00
Lancaster City Council 3,381.00
Lisburn & Castlereagh City 5,252.11
Malvern Hills 1,000.00
Midlothian 5,695.00
Newark & Sherwood 100.00
Newry, Mourne and Down 2,870.40
North Ayrshire 5,848.00
North East Derbyshire and Bolsover District Councils 2,115.00
North Lanarkshire 18,966.36
North Norfolk 872.40
Orkney Islands 1,935.00
Preston City Council 25.56
Reading 21.00
Rochdale 4,702.80
Sevenoaks 1,130.00
Shetland 918.00
Shropshire 754.00
South Ayrshire 1,390.69
South Somerset 28.31
South Tyneside 405.00
Spelthorne 38,804.00
Stafford 2,040.00
Stirling 4,200.00
Tandridge 119.38
Test Valley 64.30
Tunbridge Wells 8,055.00
Wakefield 678.24
Waverley 5,500.00
West Dunbartonshire 26,754.20
West Lothian 1,327.50
Westminster City 1,484.00
Wokingham 299.40
Wychavon 1,000.00
Total 245,026.25

Page 27
£11,514 on a friendship agreement
Source: FOI


Page 28-29
The UK has spent at least £81 million on aid to China

£3,900,000 improving Chinese weather forecasting
Source: Met Office
The Climate Science for Service Partnership China was launched in 2014, and is a scientific research project aimed at making China's economic growth 'weather resistant'. This amount was for Grant Funds available for the period April 2020 – March 2021

£3,481,571 R&D of offshore wind farms
Source: Dev Tracker
5 projects totalling this amount. 

  1. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-EP_R007470_1
  2. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-EP_R007497_2
  3. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-EP_R007519_1
  4. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-EP_R007632_1
  5. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-EP_R007756_1

£1,045,327 research on flooding
Source: Dev Tracker
4 projects totalling this amount 

  1. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-EP_R024553_1
  2. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-EP_R02491X_1
  3. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-EP_R024979_1
  4. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-EP_R034214_1

£519,399 Shaun the Sheep in Shanghai
Source: UKRI
2 projects totalling this amount 

  1. https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT011424%2F1
  2. https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT001305%2F1

£338,391 boosting apple harvests
Source: Dev Tracker

£884,999: Pandemic prevention
Source: Dev Tracker
2 projects totalling this amount 

  1. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-BB_R013071_1
  2. https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-13-FUND--Newton-BB_R012679_1

£478,906 teaching the Chinese how to grow rice 
Source: Dev Tracker 

£166,535 engaging new urban audiences in China with Chinese opera
Source: Dev Tracker

£21,732 design of a mascot for the city of Shanghai's Performing Arts and Screen Industries
Source: UKRI 

£290,000 taking Shakespeare’s plays to China
Source: Arts Council accounts
Page 85


Page 30
£7,923,782 spent hiring hundreds of ‘diversity and inclusion’ employees
Source: FOI

Constabulary Amount £
Avon and Somerset 302,884.00
Bedfordshire Police -
British Transport Police 106,236.69
Cambridgeshire Constabulary -
Cheshire Constabulary 735,627.00
City of London Police 117,867.00
Cleveland Police -
Cumbria Constabulary 82,539.00
Derbyshire Constabulary 408,200.00
Devon and Cornwall Constabulary 221,152.00
Dorset Police 559,583.00
Durham Constabulary 61,381.00
Dyfed-Powys Police -
Essex Police 109,458.00
Gloucestershire Constabulary -
Greater Manchester Police -
Gwent Police -
Hampshire Constabulary 239,184.36
Hertfordshire Constabulary -
Humberside Police 114,127.00
Kent Police 192,083.00
Lancashire Constabulary -
Leicestershire Constabulary 328,217.00
Lincolnshire Police -
Merseyside Police 149,628.00
Metropolitan Police Service -
Norfolk Constabulary 609,855.00
North Wales Police 495,660.95
North Yorkshire Police -
Northamptonshire Police -
Northumbria Police 359,004.00
Nottinghamshire Police -
Police Scotland 463,000.00
Police Service of Northern Ireland 605,475.21
South Wales Police 143,078.00
South Yorkshire Police -
Staffordshire Police 115,834.00
Suffolk Constabulary -
Surrey Police -
Sussex Police -
Thames Valley Police 558,453.08
Warwickshire Police -
West Mercia Police 258,476.00
West Midlands Police 342,714.00
West Yorkshire Police -
Wiltshire Police 244,065.00
TOTAL £7,923,782.29

Page 31
BBC golden goodbyes: £23.4 million paid out to 331 staff between 2019-20
Source: BBC annual accounts
Page 62


Page 32-33
BBC splashes taxpayers’ cash on staff expenses
Source: BBC expenses data

£303,987 claimed by top 38 BBC bosses - total by executive

Full Name

Amount £

Ken Macquarrie

25,414.30

Jamie Angus

23,212.72

Matthew Postgate

20,719.20

Alice Webb

19,813.08

Piers Wenger

19,776.89

Ian Haythornthwaite

18,290.34

Tony Hall

18,288.76

Fran Unsworth

17,535.91

Matt Grest

16,845.32

Fiona Campbell

14,574.21

Barbara Slater

9,683.90

Charlotte Moore

8,641.75

James Purnell

8,045.75

Shane Allen

7,763.33

Bal Samra

7,426.43

Rose Garnett

7,093.31

Bob Shennan

6,812.72

Robin Pembrooke

6,666.66

Cheryl Taylor

6,309.18

Dan McGolpin

5,806.86

Graham Ellis

5,343.83

Kate Phillips

4,213.42

Alison Kirkham

3,883.46

Balram Veliath

2,895.32

Kamal Ahmed

2,695.64

Shirley Cameron

2,540.46

Patrick Holland

2,355.20

Glyn Isherwood

2,246.47

Kerris Bright

1,779.52

Lucy Richer

1,463.22

Francesca Unsworth

1,462.95

Robert Shennan

1,443.23

Sarah Jones

856.76

John Shield

766.60

Stuart Page

451.72

Dale Haddon

388.70

Alan Dickson

255.95

Anna Gronmark

224.33

Total

£303,987.40

 

£18,427 spent on taxis - total by executive

Full Name

Amount £

Ken Macquarrie

2,361.89

Bal Samra

1,752.00

Matt Grest

1,665.42

Rose Garnett

1,448.62

Charlotte Moore

1,110.51

Alice Webb

1,086.88

Bob Shennan

934.18

Jamie Angus

915.97

Barbara Slater

888.34

Kate Phillips

673.69

Piers Wenger

640.56

Ian Haythornthwaite

568.85

Fran Unsworth

542.88

Fiona Campbell

542.62

Shane Allen

463.86

Alison Kirkham

455.18

James Purnell

268.32

Tony Hall

260.36

Robin Pembrooke

250.35

Francesca Unsworth

249.44

Matthew Postgate

248.31

Robert Shennan

243.73

Cheryl Taylor

207.16

Kamal Ahmed

188.27

Glyn Isherwood

150.85

Patrick Holland

118.00

Shirley Cameron

83.24

Dan McGolpin

45.11

Graham Ellis

37.41

Sarah Jones

13.13

Balram Veliath

12.12

Total

£18,427.25

 

£7,483 spent on a return business class flight to Seattle for the former chief technology officer
Source: BBC expenses data

£1,430 stay at boutique hotel in LA for three executives (per person)
Source: BBC expenses data
Fiona CampbellPatrick HollandDan McGolphin

£9,005 2 business class flights for former director general Tony Hall to Nairobi and Delhi
Source: BBC expenses data
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/whoweare/central-bookings/tony-hall-cbs-q4-2019-20.pdf http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/whoweare/central-bookings/tony-hall-cbs-q3-2019-20.pdf 

£6,597 return business class flight to LA for the head of drama
Source: BBC expenses data

£287 at the 5* Abano Grand Hotel for the head of drama
Source: BBC expenses data


Page 34-35
Trade Unions                            
£81 million of taxpayers’ cash spent funding trade union facility time
Source: Cabinet Office data


* If an FOI is not linked to above, you can request a copy by emailing us on [email protected]

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