Civil servants have been slapped with “gadget limits” at work after a string of lavish spending sprees on taxpayer-funded technology came to light.
Staffers at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and its arm’s-length bodies like the Environment Agency must now restrict themselves to just two devices in the office.
Senior officials launched the clampdown after the number of iPads in the department doubled from 3,000 in 2019 to 6,000 this year – while iPhone use surged from 18,000 to 27,000.
Mary Creagh, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for nature, said she had rolled out the limit after leading an “anti-waste” crackdown at Defra.
Mary Creagh said she had rolled out the limit after leading an ‘anti-waste’ crackdown at Defra
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Creagh blamed the Tories for the tech splurge as she told staff: “Although it’s important that civil servants have the appropriate tools, the Conservatives irresponsibly handed out tens of thousands of iPads and iPhones without limit or even knowledge, using taxpayers’ money.
“This is money that should be going into fixing our broken NHS, restoring nature and putting police on our streets.
“We will continue to crack down on waste in the department to deliver savings and invest in our Plan for Change.”
Meanwhile, one Government source involved in waste analysis voiced their shock to The Telegraph that the Conservatives had allowed the number of devices to rise to such a level during their time in office.
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One Government source involved in waste analysis voiced their shock to The Telegraph that the Conservatives had allowed the number of devices to rise to such a level during their time in office
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Some 33,000 civil servants man the corridors of Defra and its arm’s-length bodies – which in total boast almost 70,000 gadgets including iPhones, iPads, laptops and desktop computers.
But with each civil servant already holding an average of just over two devices each, the crackdown will not necessarily lead to a marked reduction in the total.
Additionally, Defra does not hold centralised data about how many devices have been issued to each employee.
But the drive to cut down on Whitehall excess comes after it came to light that spending on Government credit cards had quadrupled in the past four years to almost £700million.
Part of the nine-figure splurge included £2,500 shopping sprees by UK diplomats at a women’s shoe shop in Barbados, and £1,200 on luxury coffee pods in just two months.
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Sir Keir Starmer vowed ‘enough is enough’ last week as he pledged to cut down on waste
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“Enough is enough,” Sir Keir Starmer vowed on social media last week. “We’re cancelling thousands of Government credit cards to make sure every pound delivers for you.”
The Prime Minister’s pledge was met with rare praise by the TaxPayers’ Alliance – its chief executive John O’Connell said: “Taxpayers will be thankful that the Government is cutting up thousands of procurement cards.
“These cards have been abused by civil servants for too long, with many of them splashing the cash on fancy trips and other inappropriate ventures.
“Ministers need to make sure that these changes are permanent and keep a close eye on remaining credit cards to ensure good value for money.”
