CIVIL servants spent more than £1,000 on Nespresso coffee pods, a wastebusting investigation has found.
Payments of £742 and £531 for the refills, below, were made over 18 months, say Cabinet Office bosses who checked spending.
The investigation also found the Government Property Agency, which manages offices and warehouses, spent £1,450 on 500 fidget cubes in 2022.
Branded notebooks for the Leadership College of Government cost taxpayers £2,296.
The crack team will report back to bosses potentially triggering changes in the rules.
The audit came after Chancellor Rachel Reeves vowed to wield an “iron fist” against excess.
Civil servants face disciplinary action if found to have misused government credit cards.
In a letter to Whitehall chiefs, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer Cat Little said: “In the Cabinet Office, we are using technology including AI to interrogate our expenditure, with direct interventions with teams making charges outside of our policy.”
Ms Reeves told every department last year that its spending would be subjected to a line-by-line review.
She said taxpayers would not tolerate cash being spent on poor value projects.
Experts from leading banks will look over plans.
Past examples of Whitehall waste include money spent at private members’ clubs and away days at escape rooms.
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