Labour has hit out after a body responsible for the Government’s multi-billion pound property portfolio splashed out on 500 branded fidget cubes for civil servants.
Transparency releases show that £1,452 was spent by the Government Property Agency at "Big Bear Promo" on 18 August.
In response to a parliamentary question from Labour's Emily Thornberry, a Tory minister admitted the transaction "was for 500 Government Property Agency branded fidget cubes, which were used as part of a Civil Service Live activity".
The small hand-held devices typically including clickable surfaces and makers claim they improve concentration.
It comes after a damning Public Accounts Committee report last week warned the Government Property Agency had been held back by ageing IT systems.
The Government Property Agency - created in 2018 - manages Government offices and warehouses and has been tasked with opening modern office hubs across the UK.
But earlier this month the Public Accounts Committee said the agency had been held back by "incomplete data on the usage of offices post the pandemic" and risked being locked into long-term, high-cost leases.
Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said: "No wonder the Government Property Agency is splashing out on branded fidget cubes when this damning report shows they have been left twiddling their thumbs while knackered IT systems crumble around their ears.
“It beggars belief that an agency set up by the Conservatives to tackle waste and inefficiency has been left unable to do its job because of the lack of technology, the know-how and cooperation they need from the rest of Whitehall."
She added: “This episode of ‘computer says no’ is yet another damning indictment of this clapped-out Conservative Government’s decade of mismanagement and shameful waste."
