THOUSANDS of pounds were spent on Dominos Pizza to feed migrants as part of more than £1.5 million spent by the Home Office when Essex MP Priti Patel was Home Secretary.

The spending, which totals £1,545,959 from 1,166 transactions, was spent by various sectors of the Home Officers during Ms Patel’s tenure.

The money was spent through Government Procurement Cards, GPCs, which were first introduced in Whitehall back in 1997.

They were made to increase the efficiency and convenience of procurement for relatively low-value goods or services, especially where such purchases needed to be made at speed, in bulk, or by staff out on the road.

GPCs are the preferred civil service method of purchasing low value goods or services, with the benefit of providing prompt payments for small and medium-sized firms.

The rules on GPC use were relaxed at the start of the Covid pandemic, allowing individual cardholders to spend up to £20,000 per transaction and £100,000 per month, and permitting the use of GPCs across all categories of spending.

The spending figures have come to light after a Labour analysis of the use of GPCs.

Many ministers are facing accusations of overseeing a “lavish spending” culture in Whitehall that has seen taxpayers’ money wasted on luxury items.

During Witham MP Priti Patel’s time as Home Secretary, more than £1.5 million was spent by Home Office staff.

The payments are made by agencies which come under the Home Office such as the Border Force or UK Immigration Enforcement.

Spending varies from Amazon purchases and vet bills, flights and even Dominos Pizza.

Stand out purchases include £3,934 to Funky Furniture Hire, £2,261 to OurWeigh, £2,974 to Wolf Safety and £3,596 to Currys.

Multiple payments of £3,000 or more were made to Screwfix, thousands spent at Talking Headsets and £5,000 spent at Domino’s Pizza Dover for what is cited as “emergency food for a huge number of migrants arriving at tug haven.”

A spokesman for Ms Patel said: "During her time in Government, Ms Patel never used a procurement card.

“These are used by civil servants and their use will be subject to relevant rules, procedures and checks."