Ministers, senior officials and special advisers were treated to hospitality including lunches, dinners, and sometimes tickets on about 3,500 occasions in five years, according to a new study.

Some of the firms that provided the hospitality were also among those to secure the most meetings in key government departments, underlining the potential benefit to offering “freebies”.

The findings come from the group Spotlight on Corruption, which analysed government data to see the hospitality accepted by ministers and officials in five departments; the Treasury, Cabinet Office, business, energy and science.

The study covers the period from the first quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2024, when the Conservatives were in power.

But the issue has been back in the spotlight since Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and other cabinet ministers were criticised for taking free tickets for gigs and football matches from companies as well as free clothes and accommodation from a Labour donor.

Earlier this week Reeves was condemned for taking free tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert. She defended the decision on security grounds but conceded on Friday that she will not accept free concert tickets in the future.

The new study shows the scale of the hospitality culture around Westminster, and how senior civil servants and special advisers are also benefiting from corporate largesse.

The report states:

• Senior Treasury officials accepted hospitality from HSBC at least 10 times, and the bank also had 24 meetings with officials during the period – more than any other stakeholder.

• Top Treasury officials also accepted hospitality from Barclays 11 times over that time, and the bank had the third highest number of meetings at 17.

• Between them, the two banks provided hospitality or attended meetings with senior officials or ministers in the Treasury on average 1.2 times a week, the report found.

• One of the top providers of hospitality to Treasury ministers was the lobbying group UK Finance, which was also in the top four organisations to get the most meetings with Treasury ministers.

• Gareth Davies, the permanent secretary of the Department of Business and Trade (DBT), accepted tickets to the Chelsea flower show courtesy of the consultancy firm Oliver Wyman, as well as Bafta and Olivier awards tickets from a film company and theatre group, all in 2024.

• At the DBT, accounting giants KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Oliver Wyman were in the top five firms giving hospitality to senior officials. Those three firms were also in the top seven firms getting the most meetings.

Between them, the three consultancy companies provided hospitality to or attended meetings with senior officials or ministers in the DBT on average once a week.

Senior officials in the DBT were accepting hospitality on average 3.5 times a week between 2019 and before the election in 2024 – the highest rate among the surveyed departments. The rate went up in the first three months of the Labour government to an average of 5.8 times a week, according to the report.

The French energy company EDF was one of the top providers of hospitality to energy ministers, with 10 occasions, and had the most meetings with ministers and officials in the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

The report found that between meetings and hospitality, EDF provided hospitality to or attended meetings with senior officials and ministers on average once a week.

Ministers and officials at the Cabinet Office accepted less hospitality, but the report showed that special advisers in that department took hospitality on more than 800 occasions, including many free tickets, more than 100 of which were also with family members.

The advisers accepted hospitality from the Premier League 27 times over the five-and-a-half-year period. Special advisers have to declare hospitality but have not been not required to declare their meetings with external firms.

The report also analysed the makeup of the stakeholders meeting ministers and officials in those departments, finding that the private sector meets the government 23 more times than consumer groups and charities.

At the Treasury, just 2.3% of stakeholders met by ministers and officials were charities and consumer groups, while at the DESNZ 3.3% of stakeholders came from charities and consumer groups.

It also found that industry groups dominate inward secondments to government departments with four financial firms that had among the most meetings with Treasury ministers – on average 1.5 to two meetings a month – each also having a secondee in the departments in the five and a half years up to the election. Two of these firms also provided the most hospitality.

Susan Hawley, executive director of Spotlight on Corruption, said: “Restoring public trust in the fairness of government decision-making is a crucial and urgent task. We are calling on the government to radically enhance lobbying transparency and strengthen the guardrails against policy capture.

“Transparency will not be enough on its own however. The government must look proactively at fostering more inclusive public policymaking, including by requiring government departments to develop inclusive access policies and update guidance on policy capture.”

The data was declared in the official government register, which also includes meetings and hospitality from journalists. There is no published data on which organisations are most frequently requesting meetings.

The companies were approached for a response, and KPMG, Barclays and PwC had no comment. An HSBC spokesperson said: “We engage with both the UK government and opposition parties on issues facing our customers and the wider financial services industry.” UK Finance said: “Our role is to engage with the government on behalf of our members and we have meetings to discuss a range of relevant issues. Separately, we invite ministers to speak at our events, for example our annual dinner, which is recorded by them on their transparency release.”

A Premier League spokesperson said: “The Premier League runs a programme of stakeholder engagement with a broad range of individuals including MPs and officials. Like all industries, including many football organisations, this is normal practice and used as an opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics and issues that affect both our areas of work.”

A government spokesperson said: “This government is committed to transparency. That’s why we have strengthened transparency requirements and introduced clear principles governing ministers’ acceptance of gifts and hospitality.

“It is an important part of a minister’s role to engage with civil society, local government and other partners in sectors of the UK economy relevant to their roles.”

The government has recently updated the ministerial code to include new transparency requirements, and principles governing the acceptance of hospitality. It says ministers may be required to attend functions and events in a ministerial capacity where hospitality may be offered.

It adds that they should not accept any gifts, hospitality or service which would, or might reasonably appear to, compromise their judgment or place them under an obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence their work in government.