Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2022 to Question 53317, on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, and the Answer of 11 October 2022 to Question 53319, on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, which stated that the payment was subject to normal FCDO controls and in line with government procurement card policy, (a) whether the £1,973 paid to Finishing Touches in Great Britain on 22 March under the merchant category, Barber and Beauty Shops, is an erroneous duplicate of the £1,973 paid to Finishing Touches in Gibraltar under the merchant category, Equipment, Furniture, Home Furnishings, on 29 March, and (b) what assessment he has made of the reason for this error occurring given that the payments were subject to normal FCDO controls.

The £1,973.30 paid on 22 March and the £1,973.00 paid on 29 March were a 50% deposit paid via an in-store terminal and 50% final telephone payment for maintenance and replacement of furnishings and fittings in Gibraltar. The Merchant Category Code (MCC) and location can differ between individual terminals for the same retailer. In this case the details received from one terminal do not match the transaction; we have reported this anomaly to our card issuer. When these transactions are approved in FCDO systems, officials are not provided with the MCC but see the merchant's name, date, and the value, which were known to be correct. An incorrect MCC has no bearing on the validity of the transaction.