Leicester City Council racked up nearly £9,000 on takeaways and restaurant bills in the last financial year, with one department alone spending £666 at a cake shop. Data obtained by LeicestershireLive reveals the council’s food deliveries included 68 McDonald's orders and almost £1,000 at Domino's Pizza between April 2023 and March 2024.
The spending, which comes as the city council faces serious financial difficulties, saw Education and Children's Services emerge as the biggest spender with £3,658 in food purchases. Among their expenses was a £152 payment at The White House Wetherspoons pub in Scraptoft Lane - a payment which was marked as a "Religious Celebration" in procurement records.
The authority has said much of the spending was for children in care and externally-funded projects. It also claimed that some activities published in the data had been "mis-coded" on their Open Data system.
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The payments were all logged on procurement cards, which work like company credit cards. They are issued to council staff to pay for work-related goods and services, with each transaction monitored, while the cardholders themselves are required to provide details of what the money was spent on and why.
Several of the largest purchases were revealed to be externally funded, including a £666 payment to Eggfree Cake Box for families attending the launch of Children & Young People's Family Hubs. City council officials have explained this was covered by government funding rather than local taxpayers' money.
The authority, which cares for approximately 600 children and young people, said many of its expenses supported those in their children's homes. This included the £152 Wetherspoons payment, which covered a birthday celebration for a disabled child in their care.
City Development and Neighbourhoods contributed £2,235 to the overall spending, with expenses including £644 at Burnham Chippy to feed DVSA vehicle examiners who conduct taxi inspections at no cost to the authority. The department also made a £300 payment to Herb restaurant for a "Taste the Place" campaign promoting Leicester's vegan food scene.
A Leicester City Council spokeswoman said: "The vast majority of this spending, which is published on our website, is on looked-after children in our children's homes. These are run like family homes, with expenses for weekly shopping and a modest budget for activities."
The spokeswoman added that some spending had been "mis-coded" on their Open Data system and apologised for the error. They confirmed several expenses were funded by partners, non-governmental organisations or the government rather than council budgets.
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