Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

169751

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2015 answer text <p>There are two publications which are published as part of the Government’s commitment to Transparency which contain information on travel and subsistence for Senior Officials and Ministers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>These can be found on the Gov.uk website following the links below:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/senior-officials-expenses" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/senior-officials-expenses</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel</a></p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 19/01/2015 17:45:57 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

169802

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218471
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/01/2015 answer text <p>Ministry of Defence expenditure on taxis, first class train tickets and business class air travel in each of the past five years has been as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure</strong></p><p><strong>2009-10 </strong></p><p><strong>(£)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p><p><strong>(£)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p><p><strong>(£)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p><p><strong>(£)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p><p><strong>(£)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(a) Taxis</p><p>Note (1)</p></td><td><p>£1,082,769</p></td><td><p>£786,094</p></td><td><p>£695,565</p></td><td><p>£693,598</p></td><td><p>£705,425</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(b) First Class Rail Tickets</p><p>Note (2)</p></td><td><p>£5,613,977</p></td><td><p>£228,714</p></td><td><p>£89,860</p></td><td><p>£49,094</p></td><td><p>£70,437</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(c) Business Class Air Travel</p><p>Note (3)</p></td><td><p>£14,164,557</p></td><td><p>£7,402,445</p></td><td><p>£8,471,983</p></td><td><p>£7,373,300</p></td><td><p>£7,899,821</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes:</p><p>(1) This expenditure represents the reimbursement of taxi fares to Service personnel. Expenditure on taxi fares by civilian staff is not recorded discretely, but is subsumed in a public transport audit and reporting category that also includes expenditure on bus and underground travel. MOD may use a taxi for official duty when there is a business benefit to the Department or when it saves money. A taxi is typically used where no other suitable form of public transport is available or where heavy baggage or equipment has to be carried.</p><p>(2) First-class rail travel is currently authorised only exceptionally (for example, for medical reasons or for solo-occupancy sleeper travel)</p><p>(3) Overseas travel in other than economy class is permitted only where both the flight duration is over 4 hours and there is a business case to demonstrate that the circumstances warrant it (for example, where significant business has to be done on arrival following an overnight flight).</p><p>We are, under our transformational programmes, encouraging and facilitating the adoption of working practices that minimise the need to travel (such as audio and video conferencing). Those staff who need to travel must do so in a way that is the most economical in both cost and official time.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 06/01/2015 17:12:32 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry previous answer version 35721 answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

169810

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218472
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The amounts spent on the various categories in question are tabled below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Travel type</p></td><td><p>2010-2011</p></td><td><p>2011-2012</p></td><td><p>2012-2013</p></td><td><p>2013-2014</p></td><td><p>2014-2015 <strong><em>*<sup>1</sup></em></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Taxis</p></td><td><p>£52,816</p></td><td><p>£70,272</p></td><td><p>£63,019</p></td><td><p>£26,004</p></td><td><p>£16,177</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>First class train tickets</p></td><td><p><strong><em>*<sup>2</sup></em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>*<sup>2</sup></em></strong></p></td><td><p>£52,842</p></td><td><p>£67,841</p></td><td><p>£55,490</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Business class air travel</p></td><td><p>£5,556</p></td><td><p>£17,743</p></td><td><p>£13,365</p></td><td><p>£16,658</p></td><td><p>£26,793</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>We always strive to keep costs as low as possible and get the best out of available funds.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>*<sup>1</sup></em></strong><em> from 1 April 2014 to 30 November 2014</em></p><p><strong><em>*<sup>2</sup></em></strong> <em>Rail data for 2010-11 and 2011-12 did not give sufficient and consistent granularity to provide information for class of travel. A different supplier was used to do that in 2012 onwards. </em></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Mr Nick Gibb question first answered 17/12/2014 16:44:12 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

169814

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218473
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The expenditure is set out in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong><em>2010-11</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>2011-12</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>2012-13</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>2013-14</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>2014-15 </em></strong></p><p><strong><em>(first 6 months)</em></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>£(k)</p></td><td><p>£(k)</p></td><td><p>£(k)</p></td><td><p>£(k)</p></td><td><p>£(k)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong><em>Taxis</em></strong></p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>51</p></td><td><p>80</p></td><td><p>87</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong><em>First class train tickets</em></strong></p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong><em>Business class air travel</em></strong></p></td><td><p>321</p></td><td><p>215</p></td><td><p>167</p></td><td><p>156</p></td><td><p>149</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Hastings and Rye answering member printed Amber Rudd question first answered 17/12/2014 16:02:16 answering member 3983 label Biography information for Amber Rudd
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

169825

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218474
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The table below sets out information for the Core Department in respect of financial years 2009-10 to 2013-14 (the last complete year for which audited information is available).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The system the Department had in place for booking rail and air travel in the period prior to May 2012 did not provide management information on the class of travel. Information on first class train tickets and business class air travel up to and including April 2012 is therefore not held by the Department, and the figures for 2012-13 in this table reflect eleven rather than twelve months’ expenditure.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Some journeys use different classes of ticket for different legs of the journey. These are known as mixed tickets and have been excluded from these figures as it is not possible to identify the element relating to business class travel.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>£’000</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2009-10</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(a) Taxis</strong></p></td><td><p>480</p></td><td><p>229</p></td><td><p>63</p></td><td><p>63</p></td><td><p>72</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(b) First Class Train Tickets</strong></p></td><td><p>--</p></td><td><p>--</p></td><td><p>--</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(c) Business Class Air Travel</strong></p></td><td><p>--</p></td><td><p>--</p></td><td><p>--</p></td><td><p>174</p></td><td><p>201</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Cornwall answering member printed Dan Rogerson question first answered 17/12/2014 17:04:05 answering member 1504 label Biography information for Dan Rogerson
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

169831

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218475
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The following table details spend on Taxis, First Class rail and Business Class air travel. Spend on First Class rail and Business Class air travel is through our contract with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) travel management company, Hogg Robinson Group plc. <br><br>Travel tickets booked directly by members of staff could only be collated at disproportionate cost. <br><br>2010/11: Taxis: £318,689; First Class Train: £38,081; Business Class Air: £4,785,512 <br>2011/12: Taxis: £329,042; First Class Train: £24,455; Business Class Air: £5,167,379 <br>2012/13: Taxis: £348,733; First Class Train: £19,724; Business Class Air: £6,103,300 <br>2013/14: Taxis: £403,856; First Class Train: £1,590; Business Class Air: £5,421,348 <br>2014- October ’14: Taxis: £135,174; First Class Train: £313; Business Class Air: £2,952,555 <br><br>FCO Policy is that public transport should be used whenever possible. <br><br>Like all Government Departments, the FCO ensures we use taxpayers' money very carefully to help reduce the overall costs of Government. Staff are therefore only allowed to use taxis in exceptional circumstances: when public transport is not available, or when their line manager agrees that taking a taxi will help keep a staff member safe during unsocial hours. In addition to approver checks, expense claims are subject to retrospective audit checks. <br><br>FCO staff travelling by air are required to book the lowest fare possible, subject to budget holder approval Business class travel may be used when it is the more cost-effective option, if staff are required to work immediately upon arrival or on medical grounds. <br><br>All FCO staff are directed to use standard class for rail travel unless there are exceptional circumstances e.g. illness, disability or where first class facilities are essential for working while travelling. In these exceptional circumstances, prior line management approval must be given.</p> answering member constituency Aylesbury answering member printed Mr David Lidington question first answered 05/01/2015 14:58:56 answering member 15 label Biography information for Sir David Lidington
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

169862

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218477
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department’s travel and expenses policy clearly states that taxis are an expensive form of publicly available transport and should only be considered if their use is cost effective and delivers a business benefit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Taxis must not be used for journeys of more than five miles unless no other form of public transport is available. Only exceptionally should taxis be used for journeys between the Department’s London offices, or in Leeds when the Leeds Shuttle Bus is unavailable.</p><p> </p><p>The combined total amount spent on taxi travel by all calendar years was £877,542 between 2009 and December 2014 and the total expenditure is comprised of management information through I-Expenses and Business Management System (BMS) as noted from the tables below.</p><p> </p><p>The following table is as taken from I-Expenses:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Taxi Expenditure</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>£138,332</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>£122,035</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>£87,110</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>£73,213</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£54,442</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>£44,390</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£519,522</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The following information has been drawn from the Department’s Business Management System (BMS). BMS is a centralised database which was introduced in July 2008. It allows the Department to collect detail on the categorisation, purpose and value of orders and purchases.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Taxi Expenditure</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>£298,286</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>£31,688</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>£5,430</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>£7,841</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£9,550</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>£5,225</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£358,020</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department’s travel policy states that all rail travel must be standard class regardless of grade unless there is a clear business need to travel first class. First class rail tickets will require senior civil servant approval.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The total amount spent on first class travel by calendar year was £5,570,735 between 2009 and up to December 2014 as noted in the following table.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Total Spend</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>£3,139,973<strong> </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>£1,967,616</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>£264,490</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>£95,727</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£58,067</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>£44,862</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£5,570,735</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For comparison, equivalent spend on first class trains from 2005 to 2008 was:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Total Spend</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2005</p></td><td><p>£2,935,301</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2006</p></td><td><p>£3,425,383</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>£3,450,536</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>£4,469,270</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£14,280,490</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>The Department books the following classes of flights; economy, premium economy, and business class. Economy class is the default booking and an approved business case is required to book business class. If a flight is upgraded free of charge to business class, a business case is not required, although the management information will record a business class flight was taken.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The total amount spent on business class flights by calendar year was £1,090,466 between 2009 and December 2014.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Total Spend</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>£552,342</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>£217,674</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>£161,198</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>£98,752</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£38,050</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>£22,450</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£1,090,466</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For comparison, equivalent spend on business class flights from 2005 to 2008 was:</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Total Spend</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2005</p></td><td><p>£636,595</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2006</p></td><td><p>£483,724</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>£491,936</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>£596,350</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£2,208,605</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Central Suffolk and North Ipswich answering member printed Dr Daniel Poulter question first answered 18/12/2014 17:17:03 answering member 3932 label Biography information for Dr Dan Poulter
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

169873

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218478
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2015 answer text <p>The Home Office is performing well in reducing spending while protecting and improving our services. Against an 09/10 baseline, Government has saved £1.4billion through centralising arrangements for common goods and services. <br><br>Since 2009/10 we hve reduced the use of taxis by over 30% and we have cut spending on first class rail travel by 92% since 2010/11. Between 2006-2010 and 2010-2014, we have cut spending on taxis by £1.4m, on first-class rail by £3m, and all air travel by £4m.<br><br>The spend for taxis, first class train tickets and business class air travel in the last five years are as follows. <br><br>Taxis*<br>2009-2010 £768,623.66<br>2010-2011 £531,192.09<br>2011-2012 £318,944.83<br>2012-2013 £534,167.57<br>2013-2014 £529,919.39<br><br><br>First Class Train Tickets**<br>2010-2011 £203,884.12<br>2011-2012 £26,051.22<br>2012-2013 £23,232.63<br>2013-2014 £22,934.14<br><br><br>Business Class Air Travel***<br>2010-2011 £678,187.04<br>2011-2012 £861,537.43<br>2012-2013 £667,298.69<br>2013-2014 £1,010,037.59<br><br>It is not possible to separately identify the cost of first class train tickets and business class air travel in 2009/2010.</p><p /> answering member constituency Staffordshire Moorlands answering member printed Karen Bradley question first answered 12/02/2015 18:38:48 answering member 4110 label Biography information for Dame Karen Bradley
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

169879

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218479
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/01/2015 answer text <p>Data on how much my Department has spent on (a) taxis in each of the last five years is shown below. Data on how much my Department has spent on (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel is shown for the last four years. Due to a change in travel provider, data on class of travel is not available for the period 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Business and first class travel may be overstated due to credits (eg from cancellations) possibly not having the correct class of travel applied.</p><p> </p><p>All journeys of up to five hours must be in economy/standard class. Journeys of over five hours must also be in economy/standard class unless a line manager explicitly agrees that premium economy or business class is needed. First class travel is not allowed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Expenditure £m</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>2013/14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(a) Taxi fares</p></td><td><p>0.26</p></td><td><p>0.19</p></td><td><p>0.23</p></td><td><p>0.23</p></td><td><p>0.26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(b) First Class rail fares</p></td><td><p>not available</p></td><td><p>0.03</p></td><td><p>0.00</p></td><td><p>0.00</p></td><td><p>0.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(c) Business Class air fares</p></td><td><p>not available</p></td><td><p>1.22</p></td><td><p>1.03</p></td><td><p>0.91</p></td><td><p>0.88</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency New Forest West answering member printed Mr Desmond Swayne question first answered 06/01/2015 13:44:14 answering member 55 label Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

169880

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218480
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>a) The overall spend on taxis has reduced significantly over the past five years. Taxis can only be used if the proposed journey is not practicable by public transport. These figures include the transportation of prisoners to medical appointments and funerals. The spend comes out of each prisons budget and can vary, depending on location. Greater use of pool cars has reduced the overall spend on taxis over the past five years.</p><p> </p><p>MOJ has spent the following on taxis in the periods requested.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>£6,914,699.28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>£6,052,236.72</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>£5,118,258.45</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£4,207,627.93</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>£3,110,229.09</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>b) There is a ban on all first class travel. The only exception to this ban is to support the needs of some disabled staff in carrying out their duties, where it is reasonable to do so. Exceptions for rail travel cannot be made on any other grounds.</p><p> </p><p>The MOJ has spent the following on first class rail travel in the periods requested (excluding spend by MOJ in December 2010 as this data is not currently available):</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>£1,988,205.37</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>£421,346.96</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>£352,927.96</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£398,930.05</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>£411,327.18</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>c) There is a ban on all first class travel, and on business class travel for flights less than eight hours duration, except in the case of flights of five hours and over where there is a business need, such as where staff are required to go straight into a meeting following a flight or where staff are required to work on a flight and a business case is approved.</p><p>The MOJ has spent the following on business class air travel for 2013 and 2014. Prior to 2013, the MoJ were contracted with a different supplier and to go through all of the individual travel records would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£78,547.75</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>£86,214.89</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 18/12/2014 16:44:31 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell