A local recycling champion has raised concerns over Herefordshire Council spending on furniture and other items, using so called Ikea and Argos procurement cards.
Andrew Wood, from the Hereford Community Recycling and Reuse Group submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request at the end of 2021, after becoming concerned about the amount of council money that was being spent on items that he believed his group could supply the council for free. The FOI response confirmed that hundreds of thousands of pounds is being spent each year on supplying furniture for members of the local community.
The money is spent on various people, including those seeking refuge, members of the community who have been evicted from their property and those leaving care. Between March 2020 and March 2021, a total of £388,343.56 was spent on these procurement cards, the Freedom of Information document confirms.
However, this has risen significantly since then, with £540,047.32 being spent between March 2021 and November 2021.
Andrew believes that the council could save money by using the preloved items that people donate to his Recycling and Reuse Group. He said, “The Freedom of Information (FOI) request was raised as much of this is furniture, toys etc that were readily available from us (Herefordshire Community Recycling and Reuse Group) as Preloved items for free.”
Andrew has since been contacted by Cllr Jeremy Milln and Cllr Gemma Davies who have promised to look into the spending.
