Treasury fury as military splashes £120m on staff cars - and owns 15 golf courses: Osborne faces backlash over £500m defence cut

  • Extraordinary expenses of 'cash-strapped' Ministry of Defence revealed
  • Military and civilian staff are hiring more than 1,000 private taxis every day
  • Pay to maintain fleet of vehicles, and own more than a dozen golf courses
  • Spend uncovered at the time George Osborne faces a backlash over demand for £500million cuts to defence budget

The MoD last week released the locations of its 15 golf courses, some of which are in some of the country's most picturesque locations

The MoD last week released the locations of its 15 golf courses, some of which are in some of the country's most picturesque locations

The Ministry of Defence was last night under pressure to curb its ‘officers’ mess culture’ after astonishing details of its staff perks emerged.

At a time when senior officers are fighting moves to cut the defence budget, the MoD admitted that it is spending £120million a year maintaining a fleet of cars for staff to use like taxis – and owns 15 golf courses in some of the most picturesque parts of the country.

Figures seen by The Mail on Sunday reveal that military and civilian staff are hiring more than 1,000 of the vehicles a day.

The bill caused fury when it was spotted at the Treasury, which has faced an onslaught from Army top brass for trying to trim the £34billion annual defence budget.

Last night, an MoD spokesman pledged that the car fleet would be slashed in an efficiency drive ahead of this year’s Strategic Defence Review as part of efforts to shield frontline troops from the cuts.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has also asked his officials to determine whether the department ‘really needs’ all of the golf courses.

The MoD has a contract with car companies which provide self-drive vehicles on either a ‘spot hire’ basis – for short-notice journeys such as between an RAF base and a restaurant holding a social function – or longer term leases lasting days.

Every month, the department charges the taxpayer for an average of 29,000 spot hires plus a further 21,000 longer term leases. Last year, the cost of the spot hires came to £48million, while the leases cost a further £70million.

A Treasury source said: ‘We hit the roof when we saw this – £10million a month just so they can hop in and out of cars when they feel like it. Some of it will be for urgent operational purposes, which is fine. But a lot of it is pure “officers’ mess” – because they can’t be bothered to get the train’.

In a separate move, the MoD last week released the locations of its 15 golf courses. Most of the sites, such as those at RAF Marham in Norfolk and RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, are open for use by civilians despite being on military bases. Others, such as the 18 hole, par-71 Upavon Golf Course set in rolling Wiltshire countryside, are on MoD land, but leased back to private owners.

At a time when senior officers are fighting moves to cut the defence budget, the MoD admitted that it is spending £120million a year maintaining a fleet of cars for staff to use like taxis – and owns 15 golf courses

At a time when senior officers are fighting moves to cut the defence budget, the MoD admitted that it is spending £120million a year maintaining a fleet of cars for staff to use like taxis – and owns 15 golf courses

The nine-hole course at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk (pictured) lies on a base which hosts the US Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing 

The nine-hole course at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk (pictured) lies on a base which hosts the US Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing 

Most of the courses, such as those at RAF Marham in Norfolk (pictured) and RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, are open for use by civilians despite being on military bases 

Most of the courses, such as those at RAF Marham in Norfolk (pictured) and RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, are open for use by civilians despite being on military bases 

Upavon advertises itself to prospective members as ‘dedicated to providing its members and public alike with a challenging and exquisitely maintained golf course at an affordable price.’ It adds: ‘With stunning vistas across Salisbury Plain and the Vale of Pewsey, the club seeks to provide for its members, guests and visitors a quality all year round golfing experience in a friendly and welcoming environment.’

The nine-hole course at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk lies on a base which hosts the US Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing – so players can only come in as guests of security-cleared staff on the base, and if they are ‘arranged, escorted, and accompanied while on the course’. Its website boasts of ‘exceptional greens’ and ‘manicured fairways’.

The disclosures come as Mr Osborne faces a backlash over his demand for a £500million cut in the defence budget, which officers say will cause the UK to drop below Nato’s target of spending two per cent of GDP on defence.

The disclosures come as George Osborne faces a backlash over his demand for a £500million cut in the defence budget

The disclosures come as George Osborne faces a backlash over his demand for a £500million cut in the defence budget

US President Barack Obama used private talks with David Cameron earlier this year to press the Prime Minister not to cut Britain’s budget, because of the feared impact on US strategic interests. The British Army is undergoing a reduction in regular troop numbers from 102,000 in 2010 to 82,000 by 2020. Last night an MoD spokesman said: ‘The Defence Secretary announced a fresh crackdown on efficiency earlier this year and was clear that vehicle hire was one of the areas that needed looking at.

‘We are currently running a competition for a replacement contract which will deliver better value for the taxpayer. We need to bear in mind that defence is dynamic and the fleet of vehicles required will constantly change depending on the situation. A lot of these vehicles are used to support specialised activity such as responding to bomb disposal calls, transporting troops to training exercises and moving equipment. But we also need to do more to deliver efficiencies.’

Kevan Jones, Labour’s Shadow Armed Forces Minister, who obtained details of the golf courses, said: ‘Ministers have sacked thousands of our brave service personnel since 2010, with yet more redundancies to come. So it’s high time they got a grip on waste and excess at the MoD, and did much more to ensure that our forces and the UK’s defence is put first.’