HC Deb 26 April 1990 vol 171 cc281-2W
Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what was the total expenditure on(a) office chairs and (b) other office furniture in his Department in each of the four quarters of the financial year 1989–90;

(2) what was the total expenditure on office furniture in his Department in the fiscal years (a) 1985–86, (b) 1986–87, (c) 1987–88, (d) 1988–89 and (e) 1989–90.

Mr. Peter Walker

The expenditure figures are given in the following tables. Much of the furniture in the Department's 56 offices has aged and merits replacement in the interests of staff well-being and health and safety considerations. A decision was therefore taken in 1987 to increase the annual furniture budget in 1988–89 and subsequent years in order to undertake a furniture modernisation and replacement programme. The 1989–90 figure was further increased by the need to furnish a new office at Llanishen for the Welsh Office education department and HMI, for which the cost of the necessary office furniture was £132,000.

Financial Year Expenditure in cash terms £000s
1985–86 204
1986–87 117
1987–88 131
1988–89 363
1989–90 1461
1 Provisional.

Financial Year 1989–90
1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter1
£000s £000s £000s £000s
(a) Office Chairs 5 14 9 71
(b) Other Office Furniture 42 71 34 215
1 Provisional.