Michael Gove’s team spent £14k a year on tea


by Newswire    
8:01 am - March 29th 2012

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Michael Gove’s department spent over £14,000 a year just on tea and coffee, an answer from Tory MP Tim Loughton revealed this morning.

Labour MP Tom Watson asked:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his private Ministerial office spent on (a) tea and coffee, (b) wine, (c) alcoholic refreshments other than wine and (d) bottled water in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Tim Loughton replied:

We do not hold separate information for each ministerial office. During the 12 months from February 2011 to the end of January 2012, the total expenditure for all five ministerial offices was as follows:

(a) £14,003 on tea, coffee and other refreshments for meetings, and

(b) £508 on wine.

There was no expenditure on other alcoholic refreshments or on bottled water.

Insert own jokes here.

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Reader comments


1. IanVisits

The problem with these sorts of silly questions is that politicians get so worried about blogs sniggering about tea and coffee expenditure that they ban it altogether and force the staff to buy their own.

Which I presume no one on the left would support?

2. Planeshift

so roughly £1160 a month.

If you think about it though, ministerial offices will probably be holding meetings and functions most days – some with ministers attending, others just for civil service and outside organisations. If you use outside catering that could be a couple of hundred for tea, coffee and buscuits just for a small seminar. I think we need comparisons with similar offices both public and private sector.

3. Chaise Guevara

“Michael Gove’s team spent £14k a year on tea”

So of the £14,003 spent on tea, coffee, and other refreshments, only £3 was spent on coffee and other refreshments? They must have an awesome supplier.

4. Sevillista

@ianvisits

I think you’ll fund that, in general, civil servants already have to buy their own tea, coffee and refreshments.

Before I left the civil service a few years back, I often had to purchase refreshments for external visitors out of my own pocket through embarrassment at penny-pinching bans on such things.

One rule for the millionaire Ministers upstairs, another for the servants downstairs.

5. ukliberty

I think there are about 1500 people who work in the Department for Education, so that’s an average of £9 each over that year.

An example of profligacy might be Jack Straw’s office spending lots of taxpayer money on artwork, or Lord Irvine and the-then Speaker Michael Martin spending lots of taxpayer money on refurbishing their apartments, or Labour and Tory leaders competing to see who can stuff the most pasties, sausage rolls and pies in their mouths while attempting to prove themselves men of the people.

6. Mr James

Maybe they hoped into a flight and purchased it direct. : )

7. Sevillista

@ukliberty

You might want to note that the figures refer to the five Ministerial offices and not the whole of DfE.

You might also want to note that civil servants are banned from having state-funded tea and coffee in all but extreme circumstances (important private sector people or Ministers in the meeting too) – most refreshments will have been consumed by Ministers and their guests.

How does an average annual spend of £2,900 per minister look?

8. ukliberty

@Sevillista,

How does an average annual spend of £2,900 per minister look?

Noting your comments, it looks like a lot of expensive tea.

ISTM yours are the details that should be present in the OP.

9. Planeshift

“You might also want to note that civil servants are banned from having state-funded tea and coffee in all but extreme circumstances (important private sector people or Ministers in the meeting too)”

I’d imagine one thing that occurs extremely frequently in a ministerial department is meetings involving a minister.

10. Charlieman

The finance department at my employer reckons that it costs £25 to raise a purchase order. To buy a refreshment tray (bill: £12) costs the business (overall) £25 and the cost centre (directly) a further £12. I am assured that other organisations work like that — from people who worked there.

Logically, Michael Gove purchased refreshment trays that cost taxpayers £40,000+. Whatever, it is clear that public sector accountants need to explain why it costs so much to raise an internal purchase order.

11. Robin Levett

@Planeshift #9:

I’d imagine one thing that occurs extremely frequently in a ministerial department is meetings involving a minister.

Even more so in the private ministerial office…

@Charlieman:

As I understand it, you are guessing that public sector purchase orders cost the same as private sector purchase orders, and suggesting that Gove should explain why this is the case. Is that right?

12. Charlieman

@11. Robin Levett: “As I understand it, you are guessing that public sector purchase orders cost the same as private sector purchase orders, and suggesting that Gove should explain why this is the case.”

Apologies for not being clear.

My £25 purchase order cost is based on my knowledge of the public sector. Or more accurately, the words and directives of public sector accountants. £25 is an average cost, of course, that covers simple transactions and complex purchases. But every organisation has 100 simple purchases for every tricky one. I have been out of the private sector too long to comment about costs there.

To me, £25 appears to be the employment cost of a clerk plus accountant. It corresponds with 30 or 40 minutes of employment cost plus IT overheads etc. Buying stuff is expensive.

13. Robin Levett

@Charlieman #12:

My £25 purchase order cost is based on my knowledge of the public sector. Or more accurately, the words and directives of public sector accountants. £25 is an average cost, of course, that covers simple transactions and complex purchases. But every organisation has 100 simple purchases for every tricky one. I have been out of the private sector too long to comment about costs there.

A few points, then:

If it’s an average cost, then it self-evidently won’t be the cost in the simplest case.

Here’s an article that estimates that the cost of any purchase order is between £30 and £50; note the various steps in the buildup of that figure. How many of those steps would be involved – at the times specified – in a petty cash purchase of coffee/sandwiches/tea/biscuits? Half an hour in establishing precise requirements? Fifteen minutes of senior management time signing the cheque?

http://www.supplymanagement.com/resources/q-and-a/2002/calculating-the-cost-of-a-purchase-order/

I’d like to see a reference to the “words and directives of public sector accountants” upon which you rely. If it covers costs of procurement of substantial pieces of kit then the average will definitely be skewed.

Finally – is it likely that DfE officials nip out to Pret á Manger down the road to buy a tray of sandwiches on spec? I think you’ll find that there is a long term contract in place with caterers.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
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  7. Hard Truth Finding

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  8. Sue Agland

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  9. Lynn Jackson

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  12. Catherine Heery

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  13. Mancunian Candidate

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  14. Paul Sceeny

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  15. Kate Henney

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  16. Tom Barrance

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  17. Neo Street King

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  18. Paula Goddard

    Tea more important than wine in education>RT @SchoolDuggery: ..Gove and team have spent £14K on tea and biscuits http://t.co/rkui3f6S

  19. NEON

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  20. Gary

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  21. Jon Finnigan

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  22. Keith Turner

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  23. Christopher M

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  24. Rowland South

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  25. Chris Gravell

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  26. Stephen Cook

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  27. Most British Person Ever Michael Gove Spends £14k on Tea Every Year | Gossipian

    [...] Liberal Conspiracy] [Photo credit: Flickr] EmailFacebookRedditDiggStumbleUponRelated [...]

  28. Mark Mackley

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  39. Daniel Pitt

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