Southwark Council has splurged thousands of taxpayer funds on takeaways since 2022, newly released figures reveal.
The spending on deliveries from various fast food outlets and coffee chains came as the Labour-controlled south London authority slapped locals with the maximum permissible council tax rise of 4.99 per cent.
In a breakdown of costs, Domino’s pizza accounted for the largest portion of spending, with the council forking out a whopping £2,983 on the chain.
Deliveroo orders totalled £1,437, whilst Uber Eats purchases came to £1,152.
The authority also spent £469 at Pret A Manger on coffees and pastries.
A further £81 was recorded at Papa John’s, another pizza delivery company, bringing the total spend to around £6,000.
These takeaway expenses formed part of a broader “subsistence” claims category, which reached nearly £40,000 in total, as revealed in a Freedom of Information request from the London Standard.
At the same time, taxes on those in Southwark continue to climb at the steepest rate permitted to local authorities, with further increases expected.
The Labour-controlled Southwark Council has splurged thousands of taxpayer funds on takeaways since 2022
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Benjamin Elks, grassroots development manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, slammed the spending as “the kind of casual, entitled spending that makes a mockery of local council taxpayers”.
He told GB News: “Councils constantly plead poverty, yet somehow there’s money for Deliveroo and Domino’s.
“It speaks to a culture where other people’s money is treated as an endless slush fund.
“If Southwark is serious about the financial pressures it claims to face, it should start by banning this sort of indulgent spending outright.”
The authority spent £6000 on the fast food despite hiking tax for locals
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Councillor Victor Chamberlain, who leads the Liberal Democrat opposition in Southwark, concurred as he condemned the expenditure in forthright terms.
He described the fast food spending as “frankly insulting” and accused the Labour administration of treating public funds “as if it’s from their own pockets”.
“During a cost-of-living crisis, when the council is raising council tax and asking everyone to dig a bit deeper to supposedly fund local services, it’s frankly insulting for our Labour council to instead be spending taxpayer cash on posh coffees and pastries and indulgent takeaways,” he said.
Southwark Council defended the expenditure, maintaining that the majority of funds went towards catering for community events and providing food during emergencies.
Southwark Council maintained that the majority of funds went towards catering for community events and providing food during emergencies
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A Southwark Council spokesman told The People’s Channel: “This FOI request covers four years of spend, more than half of which was dedicated to supporting children in care and our Youth Parliament.
“We act as corporate parents for children in care and – like any other parent – we’re proud to provide food and an occasional treat for them and offer no apologies for it.
“We also provide food in other circumstances — for example, to support individuals facing emergency situations such as sudden eviction or homelessness, or to thank residents who give their time to participate in consultation and engagement events.”