Nice denies claims of excess spending

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/11/nice-denies-claims-excess-spending

Version 0 of 1.

The public body that chooses which drugs can be used by the NHS has denied allegations that it spent £115,000 on luxury hotels and champagne bars.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said business spending on corporate credit cards was subject to strict approval.

A spokesman said claims in the Daily Mail that Nice spent £3,346 at Searcy's champagne bars was inaccurate as the money was spent on room hire, not champagne. As well running bars, Searcy's also hires out venues and manages room hire at the Royal College of GPs and the Commonwealth Club, where Nice has held some meetings.

He said reports of a £1,147 spree at John Lewis could be explained by the fact the department store offered the best deal on computer equipment that Nice needed, while £522.89 spent at the five-star Ritz Carlton in Osaka, Japan, was for when a senior representative was part of a delegation to the country.

More than £600 spent in a store specialising in bar equipment and bottle openers went on jugs, glasses and coffee flasks for meetings and events, while £624 on a website for home and garden equipment paid for storage cupboards, he said.

Nice's chief executive, Sir Andrew Dillon, said: "Nice has not spent money in champagne bars, and the hotels used outside the UK were selected on the basis of the business requirements of the work involved.

"The small number of official credit cards used by senior members of staff at Nice are used exclusively for business purposes and are subject to strict guidelines. Expenditure is checked and approved and is subject to internal and external audit. Our travel, expenses and hospitality policies are set at levels which are consistent with other public bodies and along with the details of the expenditure, are open to public scrutiny. We provide appropriate access to the expenditure incurred, via our website and in response to requests.

"We use the public money entrusted to us carefully, not just because of our responsibility to advise the NHS on the effective and cost effective use of treatments, but because it's rightly what we are expected to do."

Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.