HC Deb 26 April 1995 vol 258 cc577-80W
Mr. David Shaw

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for each agency and the central Department for which he is responsible(a) the total amount of removal costs and associated expenses reimbursed to officials who were required to relocate as part of their employment, (b) the amount of each of the highest three claims that were concluded and settled and (c) the average amount of each claim in each of the last three years. [19650]

Mr. Ian Taylor

As regards the central DTI, the following amounts of removal costs and associated expenses were reimbursed to officials required to relocate as part of their employment:

£ £
1994–95 2,234,526 (includes 694,559 provision for relocation costs for merger of WSL with AEA)
1993–94 1,634,070 (includes 143,108 provision for relocation costs for merger of WSL with AEA)
1992–93 1,418,515 —

The other expenditure details requested are not identified separately and to provide the information would entail disproportionate cost.

I have asked agency chief executives to reply direct in respect of the expenditure for which they are responsible.

Letter from W. Edgar to Mr. David Shaw, dated 26 April 1995: I refer to your question to the President of the Board of Trade concerning the amount of removal costs and associated expenses reimbursed to officials who are required to relocate as part of their employment. The expenditure of NEL is as shown below. Please note that in both years where expenditure was incurred only one official was involved and thus the total also represents the answer to part (b) and part (c) of your question. I trust you will find the information supplied to be satisfactory for your purposes.

£
1992–93 nil
1993–94 1,927
1994–95 3,073

Mr. David Shaw

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the total amount paid by his central Department and each agency for which he is responsible in subsistence allowances for travel(a) within the United Kingdom and (b) outside the United Kingdom in each of the last three years. [19564]

Mr. Ian Taylor

As regards the central DTI, the subsistence element of claims by officers who travel on official business(a) within the United Kingdom and (b) outside the United Kingdom is not recorded separately from the travel costs element.

To provide the information requested would entail disproportionate cost.

I have asked agency chief executives to reply direct to the hon. Member as they have their own budgetary responsibility for United Kingdom and overseas travel and subsistence.

Letter from W. Edgar to Mr. David Shaw, dated 26 April 1995: I would refer to your question to the President of the Board of Trade concerning the total amount paid in subsistence allowances for travel, within and outside the United Kingdom in the last three years. The management information system NEL does not separate travel and subsistence costs and does not differentiate between travel and subsistence within or outside the UK. It is not possible therefore to supply the information you require.

Letter from Peter Clapham to Mr. David Shaw, dated 26 April 1995: I am writing in response to your questions to the President of the Board of Trade regarding i) subsistence allowances and ii) removal costs and associated expenses, in each of the last three years. Subsistence Allowances

  1. a) Within the UK—disproportionate cost rule applies. NPL's accounts do not separately identify subsistence costs from travel costs.
  2. b) Overseas—disproportionate cost rule applies for the reason given above.
Removal Costs
  1. a) Total removal costs and associated expenses reimbursed—£17,643 in 1992/93, £15,613 in 1993/94 and £9,354 in 1994/95.
  2. b) Amount of each of the three highest claims concluded and settled—disproportionate cost rule applies. To obtain this information NPL would need to request that CSL Managed Services (formerly ASA), who handle claims on NPL's behalf, consult each individual relocation file for the last three years and total all expenses paid from each individual file.
  3. c) Average amount of each claim in the last three years—disproportionate cost rule applies. All files from last three years would need to be consulted to endure that cases did not start outside the three year period, or started within the three year period but have yet to be completed.
I hope this provides the information you require.

Letter from P. R. S. Hartnack to Mr. David Shaw, dated 26 April 1995: You recently tabled two questions to the President of the Board of Trade, concerning subsistence allowances and removal costs. I have been asked to reply with respect to the Patent Office. I am afraid that subsistence payments—in connection with both UK and overseas travel—are not separately identified from the related travel costs on our information system, and differentiating them would involve disproportionate cost. The total amount of removal costs and associated expenses reimbursed to Patent Office officials over the past three years was £748,000 in 1992–93; £381,000 in 1993–94; and £354,000 in 199495. These figures exclude advance of salary for house purchase, since this amounts to a repayable loan. The number of relocation cases in the Patent Office has been high over the past three years, since we have been completing the move from London to South Wales. We would need to research individual files in order to determine the three highest claims, which I regret would involve disproportionate cost. The same is true for the average amount of each claim, since many cases are protracted and will overlap with the three years in question.

Letter from Peter Joyce to Mr. David Shaw, dated 26 April 1995: The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your Question about removal costs paid to officers relocated in the last three years. The Insolvency Service Executive Agency paid the following removal and associated costs:

  • 1992–93: £427,000
  • 1993–94: £252,000
  • 1994–95: £250,000
The figure for 1994–95 is provisional pending clearance of the final accounts for the year. The further information which you have sought about the three highest claims and the average amount of each claim is not readily identified by CSL Managed Services (formerly the Accounts Services Agency) which maintain The Insolvency Service's Vote accounts, and could only be obtained from the examination of individual files at disproportionate cost.

Letter from Peter Joyce to Mr. David Shaw, dated 26 April 1995: The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your Question about the amounts paid in subsistence allowances in the last three years. The Insolvency Service Executive Agency paid the following travel costs and subsistence allowances, chargeable against the Vote:

  • 1992–93: £328,000
  • 1993–94: £342,000
  • 1994–95: £370,000
CSL Managed Services (formerly the Accounts Services Agency) which maintain The Insolvency Service's Vote accounts do not separately identify subsistence allowances from travel costs nor differentiate between UK and overseas travel and subsistence. The specific information which you have sought in relation to subsistence allowances could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The figure for travel and subsistence for 1994–95 is provisional pending clearance of the final accounts for the year. The figures do not include travel costs and subsistence allowances chargeable against the estates of bankrupts and companies in compulsory liquidation incurred by Official Receivers and their staff in carrying out their functions under the Insolvency Act 1986. Information in relation to such costs and allowances could only be obtained from the examination of individual estate accounts at disproportionate cost.

Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. David Shaw, dated 26th April 1995: The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply on behalf of the Radiocommunications Agency to your two written Parliamentary Questions concerning subsistence allowances and removal costs.

SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCES There would be a disproportionate cost involved in providing the information requested for each of the last three years as we do not separately identify subsistence costs and travel costs for either UK or overseas travel.

REMOVAL COSTS The Radiocommunications Agency has spent the following amount on removal costs for its staff relocating as part of their employment:

  • 1992–93: £64,439
  • 1993–94: £55,338
  • 1994–95 £104,038
You have asked for details of the three highest claims and the average amount of each claim in the last three years. There would be a disproportionate cost invovled in providing this information as we would have to consult each case for the last three years to total all expenses paid from each individual file and to ensure that cases did not start outside the three year period or started within the three year period but have yet to be completed. I am sorry that I cannot be more helpful.

Letter from R. D. Worswick to Mr. David Shaw, dated 11 April 1995: The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your questions about subsistence allowances and removal and associated expenses with respect to the Laboratory of the Government Chemist. Most of the information you requested is not readily available, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We do not keep records which distinguish between the subsistence costs of any trip and the travel costs. We record the total of "travel and subsistence". The total "travel and subsistence" costs for the last three years is (in £k):

1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
Within UK 167 156 115
Outside UK 47 72 98
This expenditure is associated with fulfilling contracts for customers, attending scientific meetings and pursuing new areas of business.

Removal Allowances The total amount of removal costs and associated expenses charged to the Laboratory of the Government Chemist are (£k):

  • 1992–93: 18
  • 1993–94: 6
  • 1994–95: 6
I regret that it would require manual searches of records and would not be cost effective to provide further breakdown of these figures.

Letter from Seton Bennett to Mr. David Shaw, dated 26 April 1995: The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory to your questions about subsistence allowances and removal costs. (a) Subsistence allowances The CSL Managed Services (formerly ASA) do not separately identify subsistence costs from travel costs, nor do they differentiate between UK and overseas travel and subsistence. However, I am able to provide composite figures for expenditure on all travel and subsistence for the last three years. They are:—

  • 1992–93: £55,126
  • 1993–94: £66,098
  • 1994–95: £46,529 (Provisional)
(b) Removal costs This Agency has had no expenditure on removal costs in the last three years.

Letter from David Durham to Mr. David Shaw, dated 6 April 1995: You recently tabled two Parliamentary Questions requesting information about removal costs and associated expenses reimbursed to officials on relocation, and subsistence allowances for travel within and outside the United Kingdom. I have been asked to reply as Chief Executive of the Companies House Executive Agency. As far as removal costs are concerned, this agency has not incurred any of these expenses. As regards subsistence allowances, I am afraid this information is not available except at disproportionate costs. This is because we do not separately identify subsistence costs from travel costs when recording claims in our accounting system.