Government spends more than £350,000 chauffering briefcases around
The British Government has spent more than £35,000 on chauffering briefcases around... yes, briefcases.
HuffPostUK found out that in some cases it cost as much as £125 for the trip between government departments and minister's homes.
Secretaries of State and junior ministers all have 'boxes' filled with civil service briefing papers and documents to be read and signed.
In 2012/13 drivers transported the documents around London's SW1 postcode area 527 times. This may not sound that much for one year, but bear in mind this means an average of more than once a day around an area that encompasses Whitehall and Buckingham Palace.
This then increased to 577 the next year, and then up again to 826 times in 2014/15.
HuffPostUK also discovered that, since 2012, the boxes have been transported nearly 2,000 times.
It begs the question why paper documents are even still being used by the government in an age of email and encryption.
The Department of Transport said: "We are committed to continuing to reduce the cost to the taxpayer of the provision of ministerial cars under the reform programme initiated by the coalition government."
Just seven years ago the parliamentary expenses scandal was uncovered, revealing some of the things that MPs were claiming on expenses.
The information was made public after the High Court ruled in favour of releasing the information. Four Members of Parliament faced criminal charges relating to false accounting.
The Telegraph put together a list of some of the most bizarre claims and among the strangest requests were lightbulbs, a 'duck island', horse manure and jellied eels.
