A UK Government department splashed £1200 of taxpayers’ money on two folders, figures show.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced on Tuesday she would be taking an “iron fist” to Government waste.
But official figures show the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) bought two ministerial folders from luxury leather goods manufacturer Barrow Hepburn & Gale at a cost of £594 each.
Other Government departments routinely buy the same folders and ministerial red boxes from the company, which also supplies the royal family.
Leather-bound document holders are available in the House of Commons shop for just £30, but sources have suggested to the BBC the extra expense is justified to enhance the image of the Government.
Government sources added that ministerial folders last for years and are used by successive ministers.
The DCMS spending on the folders was dated October 29 - the day before Reeves's first Budget.
Asked if Sir Keir Starmer would consider the spending excessive, the PM's official spokesman said: "It's going to be up to departments to find this 5%, they'll be able to look line-by-line, make sure every pound of government spending is being focused and delivering on the plan for change.
"It will be up to departments through the spending review process to identify those savings to help drive out waste and ensure that all funding is focused on the priorities that the prime minister set out in the plan for change."
Reeves - who also uses a Barrow Hepburn & Gale red box and folders - has ordered Government departments to show how they can make annual savings of 5%.
The National reported how she has been accused of using “Thatcherite language” in her announcement and echoing an approach to government spending used during the David Cameron and Nick Clegg years.
At that time, then-minister for the Cabinet office Francis Maude pledged to leave “no stone unturned” in the hunt for more savings at the centre of government.
A Government spokesperson said it was "entirely focused on ensuring every pound of spending represents the best value for taxpayers, while also increasing investment in our public services and delivering on key growth projects".
