Government-branded merchandise and away days banned

• Government doing away with costly away days and pricy merchandise
• Every pound of taxpayer money targeted on securing Britain’s future through the Plan for Change, delivering security for working people and renewal for our country
• Part of crackdown on wasteful spending in government in favour of a more productive and agile state

Spending taxpayer money on unnecessary branded merchandise and staff ‘away days’ will be banned in the latest crackdown on wasteful spending across departments.

Staff training and development are key to boosting productivity, but officials will now be instructed to hold training and team-building exercises and ‘away days’ in government buildings that are available for free, instead of hiring external venues.  

Thousands of pounds have also been spent in recent years on goods branded with department logos or slogans—including mugs, jumpers, water bottles, and even fidget cubes. 

Such spending will be banned, focusing funding where it matters to working people such as rebuilding the NHS and strengthening our borders.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden MP, said:

By cutting wasteful spending we can target resources at frontline public services with more teachers, extra hospital appointments and police back on the beat.

We will use taxpayers’ money to deliver our Plan for Change, kick-starting economic growth, rebuilding the NHS and strengthening our borders.

The Cabinet Office has set out requirements for all departments to review their policies on procuring corporate-branded and non-essential merchandise, with a view to restricting future purchases. 

These stricter rules will permit government merchandise only when essential for delivering the government’s agenda, for example, in overseas trade and diplomacy, to promote growth.

Further measures will require departments to ensure that external venues for away days are only used when space in government buildings is unavailable.  

This announcement builds on plans to significantly reduce the approximately 20,000 government credit cards in circulation. Last week, all departments and their public bodies were instructed to freeze their cards, with cardholders required to reapply under tighter new guidelines.