Tag: Chris Leslie

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2013-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, his Department made in each year since 2010; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Ministry of Justice has reduced the overall cost of air travel by almost half since 2009, and our total spend on all travel has fallen by more than 40 per cent in the same period – a saving of more than £9m.

Furthermore, this year, the Justice Secretary toughened up the rules to ban first and business class travel for Ministers and officials in the department other than in exceptional circumstances where this is required to meet business need.

Overseas travel makes up a small proportion of the Department’s overall travel requirement. Flights and travel by Eurostar are booked through our contracted supplier, and whilst the MoJ records data on transactions, it does not hold details of the cost or destination of individual trips centrally. The cost of breaking down all travel in the ways requested would be disproportionate, as managers across the Department would have to create a breakdown of every trip taken, itemised by the different kinds of expenditure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-01-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion and value of his Department’s contracts have been let (a) under the restricted procedure, (b) by the open procedure, (c) via framework agreements and (d) via a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years.

Andrea Leadsom

Since January 2011, central government departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the tenders issued and contracts they award with a value over £10,000 (excluding VAT) (www.gov.uk/contractsfinder).

Public Procurement Regulations require that prescribed procurement procedures are used when procurements exceed the EU contract threshold values. This legal framework helps to ensure that public procurement is conducted in a fair and open manner both within the UK and across the EU.

Less than two percent of all contracts were let under the restricted procedure in each of the last three years.

In 2010/11 there was one contract let under the restricted procedure. This was for actuarial support to the independent commission on Equitable Life Payments that was set up by this government to recommend how best to fairly allocate funds provided for the Equitable Life Payments Scheme (ELPS) and had a contract value of £1million.

In 2011/12 there were two contracts let under the restricted procedure. They were (i) Corporate Financial Advice framework contract (estimated contract value of £5 million over the 2 years but no guaranteed spend)and (ii) a contract for actuarial support for (ELPS) in making fair and transparent payments to Equitable Life policyholders who suffered financial losses as a result of Government maladministration which occurred in the regulation of Equitable Life. The contract value was £5.4 million.

The information requested for the proportion and value of HM Treasury contracts that have been let via framework agreements and where a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2013-11-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, his Department has made in each year since 2010; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip.

Brandon Lewis

Role of the Department

Reflecting our responsibilities for local government, housing, planning and communities across England, the work of the Department involves staff travelling to different parts of the country.

Improved procurement has reduced our average domestic hotel rate in the UK by 8% between 2009-10 and 2012-13. Moreover, domestic flights for longer journeys can avoid the need for paying for staff to stay in a hotel overnight.

Since 2011-12, the Department accepted responsibility for some new functions outside of London, including residual functions following the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions and then oversight of the European Regional Development Fund following the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. As these business functions relate to work in areas outside of London and to the European Commission, this has therefore increased our travel spend compared to the base of 2010-11. However, this is far more than offset by the very significant savings to taxpayers of the abolition of these regional bodies.

Based on current estimates (which reflect accounting consequences from machinery of government changes) the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by around 40% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532 million over this spending review period and includes savings of around £420 million from the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions.

In addition to this, I note that the Regional Development Agencies were spending in the region of £246 million a year on administration (as cited in 11 March 2009, Official Report, Column 592W).

Spending data

The tables below list spending on travel by financial year. Figures for 2009-10 are from July 2009, as this is when the department’s current approved travel agent contract commenced; those figures are therefore only for three-quarters of the financial year, and the full year is likely to be proportionately higher.

	Overseas Travel	Overseas Accommodation	Overseas Subsistence	Total
July 2009 – March 10	£408,621	£19,847	£79,574	£508,042 (part-year)
2010-11	£56,304	£21,759	£27,798	£105,861
2011-12	£69,463	£21,204	£19,946	£110,613
2012-13	£78,474	£29,224	£21,911	£129,609

	UK Travel	UK Accommodation	UK Subsistence	Total
July 2009 – March 10	£621,028	£309,260	£174,888	£1,105,176 (part-year)
2010-11	£434,467	£199,563	£81,315	£715,345
2011-12	£980,307	£162,544	£71,913	£1,214,764
2012-13	£1,030,710	£166,149	£74,424	£1,271,283

Explanatory notes:

– Overseas subsistence costs can include accommodation, meals and travel tickets purchased locally.

– The costs of internal travel abroad are not routinely recorded in the form requested and this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

– Data on cost per trip is not centrally held in the form requested.

– For car hire, the data from our finance systems do not separate out expenditure for domestic and international car hire and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

– For helicopter hire, our records show that the Department has incurred no expenditure on this since 2010-11.

– Figures contained in this answer may differ from previous answers to Parliamentary Questions, as the data extracts have been re-run and reflect ongoing accruals and data. Delays in billing or crediting transactions can sometimes have an effect on the spend data between the financial years.

Taken in the whole, we have reduced overall travel spending compared to the last Administration, and delivered substantive savings for taxpayers’ from the abolition of regional government in England.