Official figures revealed this week showed that the Wales Office spent £76,000 on car hire in the four months between May to September of this year.

Spending figures for the government office detailing everything from bills for office furniture, to heating costs and credit card spending were revealed in the recent figures. The information was made public after a pre-election promise from the coalition government to promote transparency within public spending.

One of the biggest bills revealed as part of the publication of spending figures was for car hire, coming in at £76,000 for four months. The previous year the bill for chauffeured cars came to £184,005.

The cost of keeping two chauffeur driven cars in operation in London, and one in Cardiff, for use by the Secretary of State and the Welsh Minister was said to be £13,656 a month. However the second car in London has been axed in recent weeks as part of spending cuts.

A spokesperson for the Wales Office added that ministers always travelled standard class when travelling between Cardiff and London by rail.

The move to publish government spending figures was made in the wake of the expenses scandal which revealed that some government MPs had been working the system to their advantage. It is hoped the increased transparency into how public money is spent by government ministers will go some way to regaining the trust of the public.

Andrew Lloyd is the Editor here at Cars for Stars News and oversees all of the editorial content on the website. Having worked in a variety of print publications focused principally on motoring news, Andrew brings a wealth of experience to the role of Editor.

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