This is how much taxpayer money the Government wastes ferrying empty red despatch boxes in chauffeured cars
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Red despatch boxes. You'll have seen them exiting Number 10 and featuring in TV shows like The Crown and they are an iconic part of the British political landscape.
But now it's been revealed that they cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds a year because they're being ferried around in empty Ministerial cars.
A freedom of information by EV outlet Fast Charge has found that the Cabinet Office made 83 red despatch box journeys between 18 June 2024 and 31 March 2025 using the Government Car Service (GCS). This came at a total cost of £14,095.02 using taxpayer money.
The trips, known as 'despatch box movements', involve chauffeuring government documents securely between locations, even though no Minister is present.
If the trend continues in this way, red box movements could end up costing almost £18,000 annually, at the same time Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged to 'cut the costs of running the government by 15 per cent'.
The expense is seen as an entirely unnecessary one in today's technology-focused world, with these empty car journeys being criticised by politicians on all sides for many years. In 2011, them Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, who was leading calls to reduce cost by using technology, suggested using hard copies in Red Boxes was not needed, commenting: 'Security is often an alibi.'
A new Freedom of Information (FOI) has found that the Cabinet Office made 83 red despatch box journeys between 18 June 2024 and 31 March 2025 using the Government Car Service (GCS), at the total cost of £14,095.02 of taxpayer money
Fast Charge looked into the cost of each empty chauffeur car trips for the sake of official documents and worked out that the average cost per journey, based on the most recent data, is £169.82.
The data suggests that the government would hit 106 journeys by the end of the year, costing £17,600.
But this is a reduction on the number of empty-car journeys compared to the same period the previous year, when 120 trips were made costing £21,932.21 under the Conservative Government.
However, despite the overall cost declining compared to last year, the cost per journey is up on previous years.
In 2016, the Huffington Post found the average cost per journey for such movements was £125 on average. In the year 2015-16, the Cameron Government were reported as spending £41,520 on despatch movements.
In March, Reeves said cutting running costs by the stated 15 per cent was 'more than possible' given advances in technology and artificial intelligence, which would add weight to the notion that the practice of driving empty cars around in the name of paperwork is out-of-date.
Responding to the FOI the Cabinet Office told the Daily Mail: 'Over the last year, we have saved thousands of pounds by reducing the number of journeys booked through the Government Car Service.
'Official documents will still need to be transported in the safest way possible in the interests of national security.'
Red despatch boxes are famous: As well as being a picture staple in British political announcements they have appeared in many TV shows and films including The Crown. Pictured: King Charles III's first despatch box
Even as far back as 2009, before coming into power, David Cameron called for an end to red box car journeys. The pledge didn't stick and 2011 saw a bumper year of red box movement costs with a total of £110,865 spent.
Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine joked in 2010 that her then husband's papers were moved around in 'air-conditioned splendour' despite Cabinet Officer Michael Gove himself using public transport.
She wrote: '[The Red Box] arrives unannounced at all hours in a chauffeur-driven car, the engine purring deferentially as her handler walks her to the front door... she deposits herself on the sofa to await her master.
'My husband is free to travel home by Tube, taxi, bicycle or carrier pigeon, but the (box) must arrive in air-conditioned splendour, snug and secure in the back of a locked car'.
Tom Riley, founder of Fast Charge, commented: 'It's not only paperwork being taken for a ride, clearly us taxpayers are too. At a time when the Chancellor is looking to balance Britain's books, potentially with new tax rises, it's astonishing that the government is burning cash like this.
'Cheaper, safer, and greener options must surely now exist for Ministers to access their official documents. At the very least, they should review and reverse this practice.'
Red despatch movement costs have been criticised for well over a decade: In 2009 David Cameron's Government pledged to cut this cost but 2011 saw a bumper year of red box movement costs with a total of £110,865 spent
In April the Government pledged that all central government cars and vans (except for the Prime Minister's gas-guzzling Range Rovers) will be zero emissions by the end of 2027
Not just a waste of money, it could be adding to government produced transport pollution as the Daily Mail recently revealed that the Government has not met its own EV targets despite pushing motorists towards electric cars by increasing taxes and running costs of hybrid, petrol and diesel.
It pledged to electrify 25 per cent of the central government car fleet by 2022 and then in April the Government further pledged all central government cars and vans will be zero emissions by the end of 2027.
This does not include the Prime Minister's gas guzzling Range Rovers, though.
But WhatCar? found that the Government is falling short of its targets to electrify its fleets, with only 15 per cent of its cars and vans being pure electric.
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