Crackdown on Government Credit Card Abuse in the UK
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According to the Public Accounts Committee, tougher rules are needed to prevent the abuse of some 24,000 government credit cards by UK civil servants. In a report published today, the Committee said 99 questionable cases were uncovered over the past three years, including spending by Ministry of Defence military and civilian staff in bars, restaurants and golf clubs.
According to the Public Accounts Committee, tougher rules are needed to prevent the abuse of some 24,000 government credit cards by UK civil servants. In a report published today, the Committee said 99 questionable cases were uncovered over the past three years, including spending by Ministry of Defence military and civilian staff in bars, restaurants and golf clubs.
In the report, Chair of the Committee Margaret Hodge called for a crackdown on those who can use the Government Procurement Cards, and what exactly they can buy, as current controls were “not strict enough to deter and prevent inappropriate use”.
Some staff, it found, had used cards to pay for doughnuts, luxury hotel rooms and online iTunes purchases.
[quote] In its findings, the Ministry of Defence is by far the largest spender, accounting for three-quarters of all expenditure using the cards. The Department for Work and Pensions, additionally, did not even have receipts for a third of its transactions using these cards. [/quote]
According to Friday’s report, £322 million ($495 million) was spent on the cards last year.
In its defence, the Ministry of Defence argued that it is one of the largest government departments with over 250,000 individuals based all over the world, adding that a vast majority of purchases were by military personnel and civilians while on duty overseas.
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Introduced in 1997, the Government Procurement Card was meant to allow public servants to pay for small purchases more conveniently.
While the Committee conceded that “there may be clear benefits to using the card”, “departments must maintain strong controls over its use to reduce the risk of inappropriate use or fraud, and any subsequent reputational damage.”
Calling for a central system for collecting and monitoring cases of card fraud, the Committee added:
[quote] The central policy should consider going further, for example by specifying: 100% transaction checking, blocking categories of expenditure by default, banning use of the card for certain items (such as alcohol) and ensuring that all cardholders are permanent staff members. [/quote]
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