Search Results

1-1 of 1 results for subject:"Government departments"

Show detailed: On Off

Results: 10 20 50 100

Sort by: Newest first Oldest first

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much the Department spent on (a) mobile phones, (b) hospitality and (c) taxis in (i) 1996-97 and (ii) the latest accounting period. - Including figures.

Asked by

Marquess of Lothian (Conservative)

Answering body

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

13 July 2004

For answer on

7 September 2004

Answered on

7 September 2004

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Department spent on (a) mobile phones, (b) hospitality and (c) taxis in (i) 1996-97 and (ii) the latest accounting period. [184504] Mr. Straw: The information is as follows: Mobile phones 1996-97: £169,356.77 2003-04: £680,527.56. This does not include the costs of mobile phones for staff overseas. Responsibility for such contracts is devolved to our overseas missions and the relevant figures could be provided only at disproportionate costs. Entertainment 1996-97 DS Entertainment Fund, used for official hospitality by Ministers and Officers in London: £383,507.89 Accountable Entertainment Allowance spent on official hospitality abroad by officers with representational duties against a personal authorised ceiling: £3,865,746.74 Frais expenditure by Heads of Mission on official hospitality abroad: £5,532,641.13 Total for 1996-97: £9,781,895.76 2003-04 Direct Entertainment Expenditure in London and at Post, that includes the DS Entertainment Fund and expenditure from a system of local entertainment budgets abroad that replaced the former Accountable Entertainment Allowance for individual officers: £4,178,832.75 Frais expenditure by Heads of Mission on official entertainment abroad: £4,103,380.55 Total for 2003-04: £8,282,213.30 Between these two financial years, entertainment budgets have been largely devolved to individual FCO Directorates and some payments previously made directly to individual officers now have to be drawn against tighter objectives from pooled entertainment funds. The annual totals are not therefore altogether directly comparable. Expenditure on hospitality for official guests invited to London from overseas for either year could be provided only at disproportionate costs. Official taxi contract spend for the two periods concerned are: FY 1996-97: £113,058.09 FY 2003-04: £412,168.68 The 1996-07 figures may not provide a full picture of expenditure as they will not include the large ad-hoc use of black cab taxis in London by FCO staff. Staff would claim these costs via individual travel claims. This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs. The figures relate to both the FCO's offices in London and Hanslope Park. Hanslope Park, since 1996-07, has developed into an important operational site to the Department and leads on major Projects such as Firecrest, the FCO Telecommunications Network and PRISM; hence the number of visitors has increased. The site is not supported by public transport links and use of taxi's to/from Central Milton Keynes (London main line) station has been the only method of reaching the site for train users. We have recognised the increased use of taxis at Hanslope Park and introduced an `in- house' minibus service at peak times of the morning/ afternoon to cut costs. In addition, we are actively managing the taxi contracts to ensure value for money. We have also encouraged taxi-sharing where possible.

Date

7 September 2004

Reference

424 c1061-2W; 184504

House

House of Commons

Librarians' tools

Type

House

Session

Year

Department

Member

Primary member

Answering member

Legislative stage

Legislation

Subject

Publisher