Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many government procurement cards were held by staff within (a) his core Department and (b) executive agencies of his Department at the end of calendar years (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.

The Cabinet Office has a clear policy for new government procurement card applications which must be accompanied by confirmation a budget holder within the relevant business unit approves the issue of the card. Initial use of the card is restricted to certain categories of spend alongside a single transaction limit and monthly spend limit. These restrictions can only be lifted by completing a business case. All new card applications must include a signature to confirm that the cardholder has read and accepted departmental policies and the consequences of misuse.

The Cabinet Office had 298 and 320 government procurement cardholders at the end of 2022 and 2023 respectively.

The Government Property Agency had 5 and 8 government procurement cardholders at the end of 2022 and 2023 respectively.