Odd news stories

Departmental Christmas card

Sometimes I have to wonder who submits Freedom of Information requests and for what purpose. The UK government website (www.gov.uk) is full of odd tidbits of information, and I was intrigued by a request submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government headed by Eric Pickles regarding Christmas cards.

According to the response, the department issued one electronic Christmas card for 2014, which was for the ministers, and not for the civil servants. The cost of printing and posting the Christmas card was £0 as it was distributed electronically. Very frugal.

It surely must have cost more in terms of money and civil servants’ time to answer this FOI request than creating and sending the Christmas card.