Office of Fair Trading officials spend £38,000 of taxpayers’ money on food and drink including ‘business lunch’ for three at Hooters

  • Government watchdog officials spent £80 on meal at American grill
  • Also spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ cash on meals at luxury London eateries
  • Consumer watchdog admits Hooters was ‘poor choice of venue’

By
Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:50 PM on 12th February 2012


Saucy: American-themed bar grill Hooters is well-known for its scantily-clad waitresses

Saucy: American-themed bar grill Hooters is well-known for its scantily-clad waitresses

The Office of Fair Trading has run up a £38,000 food bill charged to the taxpayer, including £80 on a mean at raunchy American food chain Hooters, it was revealed today.

Bosses at the Government quango, which works to protect consumer rights, racked up the £80 taxpayer-funded bill at Hooters in Nottingham, famous for its busty waitresses who wear hotpants while serving customers.

A member of the consumer watchdog entertained business contacts at the American-themed grill, according to figures obtained by the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

Figures released through Freedom of
Information requests showed that the OFT spent £77.73 on a meal at the
Nottingham branch of the chain in October 2009.

Officials
at the quango also amassed bills over £1,000 charged to the taxpayers
at high-end London restaurants as part of business lunches and meals
hosted for delegates.

In
the past two years the OFT spent £1,064.47 at Chez Gerrard in London, as
well as a further £1,440 at Patterson’s, another exclusive London
restaurant.

The taxpayer-funded bill at Hooters today came under fire from Object, which campaigns for against the sexualisation of women.

Anna van Heeswijk, campaign manager, told the Daily Express: ‘What hope do women have for equality when it is seen as acceptable for a government office to use taxpayers’ money to support a restaurant which is based on the objectification and degradation of women?’

Lunch: Officials from the Office of Fair Trading spent nearly £80 in Hooters, Nottingham, during a taxpayer-funded meal

Lunch: Officials from the Office of Fair Trading spent nearly £80 in Hooters, Nottingham, during a taxpayer-funded meal

OFT bosses also splashed out £100 on food at the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair, as well as £386.44 at Lutyens, near St Paul’s in London, during a lunch for Japanese delegates hosted by the firm’s boss John Fingleton.

In total, the Office of Fair Trading spent £572,458 from the public purse between 2009 and 2011.

The two-year bill included £90,000 on flights, £10,000 on stays at five-star hotels, and even £500 on jewellery in Liverpool and £440 for a training course.

Emma Boon, campaign director for the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: ‘It’s preposterous that staff at the quango in charge of ensuring we don’t get ripped off have spent taxpayers’ money in Hooters; it’s an inappropriate venue in which to conduct business.

‘The OFT needs to explain some of the more extravagant looking items on these bills, such as big lunches and five-star hotel stays, as some of this spending looks inappropriate.’

The Office for Fair Trading, Britain's leading consumer watchdog, conceded Hooters was a 'poor choice of venue'

The Office of Fair Trading, Britain’s leading consumer watchdog, conceded Hooters was a ‘poor choice of venue’

A spokesperson for the OFT said the £77 bill from Hooters was for a meal for three people in October 2009.

A spokesperson said: ‘The OFT believes Hooters was a poor choice of venue and has relayed this to a junior official in question.

‘The money was spent on food only, and staff are permitted to fund subsistence costs when travelling away from the office on business.

‘In some cases where conferences take place in higher end hotels, officials can stay there for reasons of practicality.

‘Where we can, we seek to recover the costs of travel and accommodation from event organisers.’

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The really big problem with Britain today , is that the country is run by very rich people who have never had a proper job. They do not notice so many officials from so many different organisations virtually stealing money from the public. this will never change unless we have a government of former working people. There might just be a change of attitude then , where government sees what has been going on for certainly the last 15 years as unacceptable

Theres never enough money to increase the state pension to the poverty level of 178 pounds a week but there is always money for these quangos to squander on themselves. Shameful Britian.

Why are they spending ANY money on these types of events. They are suposed to be policing trading practices, not having business lunches. Get a grip on these quangos for goodness sake. In fact just sack the lot of them. If we find we miss them then they can reapply for their jobs back and we’ll see if we really do still want them.

This is not too bad in the circs and very small compared with a lot of the other quangos. I thought Cameron was getting rid of these waste-of-money bodies? What a joke

I remember when luncheon vouchers (LVs) were taxable. So the people who benefited from this “perk” must pay tax in kind to the value of the lunch. Everyone else must pay for their own lunch from their post tax pittance. I hope the HMRC have made a note of this and are investigating the bosses at the OFT.

All these Liebour appointed Jobsworths should have been disbanded when the new government took over. If any are needed reappoint new ones with new people to head them. There’s no money to pay pensions but there’s always money for people with their nosed in the taxpayers funded trough.

HEY Tony, its the journalists that are digging this pile of poo up. Be big and say sorry.

Take your sandwiches from home and get the UK out of this mess!!!!

Journalists could show them how to rack up some real expenses and add a bit for themselves.
– Tony, Bolton, 12/2/2012 22:14
The difference is journalists are not funded by the tax payer IDIOT !
Why do these greedy grasping chancers always expect the tax payer to feed them ? They have to eat so why is it always the tax payer that cops the bill. Do these people think that as they work for the Government that they have an automatic right to be fed ?

Choo Choo …..the gravy train kept rolling!

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