§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Prime Minister (1) what has been the annual cost of official entertaining associated with the office of Prime Minister since May 1979 to date;
(2) what has been the annual cost of her foreign travel from May 1979 to date;
(3) what has been the total cost to public funds of the Prime Minister in all her offices, duties, accommodation and expenses in each year from 1979 to date;
(4) what has been the cost of running No. 10 Downing Street and Chequers each year since 1979, both in current and constant prices; what has been the percentage increase annually in real terms; and what has been the annual cost since 1979 on entertainment and allowances for accommodation.
§ The Prime MinisterThe costs of all my offices are as follows:
Total costs Year (April-March) Current prices1 £
Constant prices (1985–86)1 £
Year on year percentage variation1 1979–80 1,429,268 2,311,908 1980–81 1,767,949 2,410,719 4.3 1981–82 2,442,406 3,032,387 25.8 1982–83 2,728,421 3,158,553 4.2 1983–84 3,055,684 3,386,437 7.2 1984–85 3,817,676 4,055,662 19.8 1985–86 4,437,357 4,437,357 9.4 1986–87 (Estimate) 4,984,491 4,839,700 9.1 1 Year to year comparisons are not necessarily valid (see notes 2 and 3 below) Notes:
(1) I would refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply to the hon. Member for Central Fife (Official Report, 23 July 1986, columns 229–30) which gave the costs of my office on a consistent basis.
(2) The basis for the total costs changed in (i) 1981–82 when charging by Ministry of Defence for its aircraft was introduced; (ii) 1983–84, when the Property Services Agency introduced charging for buildings and services; (iii) 1984–85, when Ministry of Defence introduced charging for the Service staff at Chequers; and (iv) 1986–87 when the cost of office services was included for the first time. After allowing for the inclusion of the costs at (iv) above, the estimated cost of all my offices will not have increased since 1985–86.
(3) Following the abolition of the CPRS, the policy unit in the Prime Minister's Office was strengthened by four staff. In the last full year of its existence (1982–83) CPRS employed 35 people and cost £1,109,000. Thus, while the cost of my Office increased as a result of 54W the abolition of the CPRS, substantial net overall savings were made.
(4) Salaries and wages, notional pension liability and administration costs and the grant-in-aid to the Chequers Trust are included. My salary as a Cabinet Minister is included but my pay and allowances as a Member of this House are excluded.
(5) Billing delays prevent some costs from being shown in the financial year in which the goods and services were provided. The above figures, therefore, do not necessarily reflect when the expenditure was actually incurred.
(6) Since the answer given on 23 July 1986 to the hon. Member for Central Fife (Official Report, 23 July, 1986, columns 229–30), the GDP deflator, used to measure the constant price effect, has been re-based from 1984–85 = 100 to 1985–86 = 100.
The annual costs since 1979 of entertainment, accommodation allowances and foreign visits are as follows:—
Year (April to March) Current prices £
Constant prices (1985–86) £
Year on year percentage variation Entertainment 1979–801 12,546 20,294 — 1980–81 17,649 24,066 18.6 1981–82 15,684 19,473 -19.1 1982–83 13,778 15,950 -18.1 1983–84 13,837 15,335 -3.9 1984–85 23,104 24,544 60.1 1985–86 24,888 24,888 1.4 1986–872 25,000 24,272 -2.5 See Notes (5) and (6) above Accommodation 1983–84 505,230 559,917 — 1984–85 506,787 538,379 -3.8 1985–86 525,689 525,689 -2.4 1986–872 528,602 513,206 -2.4 See Notes (2) (ii) and (6) above Foreign Visits 1979–801 151,864 245,647 — 1980–81 133,206 181.635 - 26.1 1981–82 556,000 690,306 280.1 1982–83 523,587 606.130 - 12.2 1983–84 216,146 239,542 -60.5 1984–85 414,259 440,084 83.7 1985–86 457,483 457,483 4.0 1986–872 418,505 406,316 -11.2 See Notes (2)(i), (5) and (6) above 1 From May 1979 2 Estimate