The Somerset Gazette report:

COUNTY council bosses have defended the authority’s spending – after it was revealed staff have racked up a bill of £4.6million with council-issued credit cards over the past 18 months.

The figure emerged following a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

Payment cards are issued to stop employees from using their ownmoney on council purchases and having to claim it back later in the form of expenses.

You can read the full story here.

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.