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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Mikey Smith

Government has no way to know cost of Sue Gray's Partygate probe, officials say

The Government has no way of knowing how much the Sue Gray Partygate inquiry will cost, officials have said.

The Cabinet Office was accused of a "cover up" last month, when they refused to release costings for the probe.

Now, after a complaint from campaign group Unlock Democracy, officials have revealed the Cabinet Office "does not have a central tool in place to monitor the level of resource and/or cost of projects that are being funded from the department’s core administration budget."

Unlock Democracy director Tom Brake said: "This is pretty shocking. A major government department with no idea how much is being spent on big ticket items such as the Sue Gray report is a department out of control.”

Some sources estimate the cost of the Cabinet Office’s Partygate probe could be as high as £80,000.

Partygate inquisitor Sue Gray (PRU/AFP via Getty Images)

And up to £100,000 more could be being splashed on the Met’s investigation into lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street, as police officers sift through hundreds of photographs, CCTV images and other evidence.

Now Boris Johnson is fighting a third inquiry, into whether he lied to Parliament over the rule-breaking events.

Mr Brake added: “They should get on top of this immediately, starting with keeping tabs on the real cost to the taxpayer of the Sue Gray report".

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "The investigation was carried out against published terms of reference by civil servants in the Cabinet Office, funded by existing budgets."

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