Foreign Office splashed £500,000 on lavish rugs and wallpapers in just 12 months
The Foreign Office spent almost half a million pounds of taxpayer cash on lavish furnishings such as luxury rugs and wallpaper in just 12 months.
The splurges included more than £8,000 at Chelsom Ltd, a luxury lighting designer, while over £3,000 was spent at The White Company on home decor.
Rugs and carpets made up a large amount of spending, with nearly £4,000 splashed on two purchases from Lady Deirdre Dyson’s designer rug and carpet collection and £2,382 spent in a single purchase at hand-woven rug shop Weaver Green.
Another £8,000 was spent on rugs and carpets across four other premium designers.
When it came to decorating, just over £7,000 was spent at Osborne & Little - former Chancellor George Osborne's family wallpaper business - and £11,500 was paid to The Romo Group, a luxury wallpaper and fabric brand which sells cushions for up to £205 and wallpaper for up to £324 per roll.
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More than £30,000 was also spent across luxury furniture stores including Heals, The Cotswold Company and Ercol.
Patterns by Lulu Lytle, the designer behind the controversial Downing Street makeover (Lulu Lytle)The figures relate to the year leading up to August 2022, during which the Foreign Office was overseen by Dominic Raab and Liz Truss.
Labour has spent months putting in hundreds of parliamentary questions and freedom of information requests to collect the information.
The party has dubbed the findings “the GPC files”, as department staff used Government Procurement Cards (GPC) to fund spending.
The Foreign Office’s elaborate furnishing expenses prompt memories of Boris Johnson infamously decorating his Downing Street flat with £840-a-roll gold wallpaper when he moved in as PM.
Upmarket interior designer Lulu Lytle oversaw the redecoration, which cost at least £112,000 - well in excess of the £30,000 annual public grant a prime minister receives for their living quarters.
Labour's Angela Rayner accused the Tories of having a 'culture of extravagance' (PA)Mr Johnson was forced to pay the bill himself after coming under fire for trying to get Tory donor Lord Brownlow to fund the lavish revamp.
However the Conservative Party was later fined £17,800 by the Electoral Commission for breaching electoral law over the way the money was recorded.
Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said: “This is a culture of extravagance and excess set from the very top... and now it is clear the Foreign Office have followed suit with spending splurges on luxury fabrics and furnishings.
“The culture of lavish spending across Whitehall overseen by Rishi Sunak, is quite frankly shameful at the height of the worst cost of living crisis for decades.”
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When asked whether Mr Sunak would encourage officials to be as frugal as possible, the PM's spokesman said: "As ever, everyone who spends taxpayers’ money needs to be aware that they are doing just that and as the 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 NAO [National Audit Office] estimates that using cards typically saves around 35% of transaction costs - or £5 per transaction - compared with traditional methods."
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