Whitehall cost-cutters spend £10,000 on away days for staff

The spending at Francis Maude's Cabinet Office was branded "outrageous" at a time when thousands of civil servants are losing their jobs.

Details have emerged of 17 away days held since the Coalition came to power in May 2010, costing a total of £10,020. They include events at Somerset House and Kenwood House.

The most expensive was at Rich Mix, a charity and social enterprise organisation in an old Shoreditch clothing factory, costing £2,584 for 70 people.

The department also spent £2,500 for a trip to the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster, just minutes from the Cabinet Office's Whitehall HQ.

And an away day at Wallacespace in Covent Garden - described on its website as "comfortable and relaxed; an environment designed to create"- cost £1,252 for 12 people.

Eight events were held on the Cabinet Office estate but cost £1,766, which Labour MP Luciana Berger, who uncovered the spending through parliamentary questions, said was "bizarre".

"It's staggering that the same out-of-touch ministers who are putting thousands of people out of work are shelling out on corporate away-days," Ms Berger said. "When people across the country are cutting back on what they spend, Francis Maude should justify why his department isn't doing the same."

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett added: "They are supposed to be in charge of public sector efficiency. People will think this is outrageous."

Mr Maude, who last week pledged the Government would save £5 billion this year, said staff were encouraged to use Cabinet Office facilities "wherever possible" but added: "In some cases it is more beneficial to hold events offsite and away from office distractions."

He said there was a "robust approvals process" in place, presided over by senior officials.

Shadow Treasury chief secretary Rachel Reeves has been put in charge of a Labour drive to identify Whitehall waste, pledging a "ruthless insistence on value for money".