Chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing fresh scrutiny after documents revealed she claimed expenses for a bottle of champagne that a junior colleague says they never received.
The Times has seen documents showing Reeves expensed a £29.93 bottle of Moët and Chandon while working as a customer relations manager at Halifax Bank of Scotland in 2009.
The purchase was listed as "colleague entertaining and incentives" on her expense claim, but the intended recipient later denied receiving the gift, stating they had received thanks but "no Moët" for their work.
The expense claim also included £9.40 for sweets for her team, £4.92 for biscuits for an away day and £1.34 for a birthday card.
Rachel Reeves bought a bottle of champagne for a junior banking colleague on expenses which they claimed was never received
Getty/PA
Documentation shows the champagne purchase was questioned in an email by a staff member, who checked with the intended recipient about the gift.
The query came in early January 2009, seven weeks after Reeves purchased the champagne alongside personal grocery shopping at a Leeds Tesco store.
The revelations come amid wider concerns about expenses culture in Reeves' former department at HBOS between 2006 and 2009. A spokesman for the MP for Leeds West and Pudsey told The Times she was unaware of the claims made against her or any investigation into her expenses.
"Rachel is proud of the work she did at HBOS and the teams that she led; it is 16 years since she left the bank and the first time she was made aware of these claims was when approached by journalists," the spokesman said.
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Reeves is currently battling accusations she exaggerated her career on her Linkedin profilePAThe spokesman continued "She was not aware of an investigation nor was she interviewed, and she did not face any disciplinary action on this or any other matters. All expenses were submitted and signed off in the proper way."
When questioned directly about the allegations, Reeves stated: "No one ever raised any concerns about my expenses when I worked for Halifax Bank of Scotland."
The BBC reported that a whistleblower complaint led to an investigation by HBOS's Internal Audit department, which found evidence of apparent wrongdoing by Reeves and two other senior managers.Documents showed Reeves claimed almost £1,000 in taxi expenses over six months during her time at the bank.
The Internal Audit department assessed the complaint after it was passed to the bank's risk department, according to two sources who spoke to the BBC. However, there is no evidence that the internal investigation was ever completed or reached a final conclusion of wrongdoing.
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Jayne Wayper, a former HR business partner at HBOS, defended Reeves, saying she did not recognise any of the accusations.
"In my role, I would have been made aware of any investigation which concluded, there was a case to answer," she said.
Wayper explained that birthday gifts and Christmas presents could be purchased using motivation cards under company policy.
She added that Reeves' extensive travel was justified: "Rachel travelled extensively in her role using the train and then taxis primarily to get to sites. She was also on a relocation package having moved to Leeds from London."
