§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the current conditions on which civil servants in his Department are granted salary advances to enable the purchase of bicycles for home-to-office travel; if he will make a statement on the current conditions in each agency of his Department; what plans he has to change the conditions; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe current conditions applying in the Department and its agencies are that there should be 13W an operational need or other identifiable value for money improvement justifying the advance—maximum £100—and that the advance is repayable over one year. Only one such advance has so far been made to an official of my Department. Departments and agencies generally have recently been given discretion to offer a larger advance and to revise the eligibility and repayment rules. These changes are being considered in the context of a Departmental review of travel allowances, and revised rules are expected to be promulgated in the spring.