§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State fGr Health how much has been spent by(a) trusts, (b) district health authorities, (c) regional health authorities and (d) in total on cars for staff within the NHS in each of the last five years. [39652]
§ Mr. Malone[holding answer 26 October 1995]: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, West (Mr. Sackville), gave her on 25 May, Official Report column 776. These replies cover the total expenditure on cars for the period 1991 to 1993. The expenditure on staff cars by regional health authorities in the year 1993–94 fell by £332,881 to £5,053,065. The expenditure on staff cars by district health authorities in the year 1993–94 fell by £17,071,191. Expenditure on staff cars by national health service trusts rose from £24,010,267 to £47,219,792, with 361W the growth in the number of trusts from 156 in 1992–93 to 292 in 1993–94, an increase in expenditure on cars of about 5 per cent. per trust. The total expenditure on cars for staff was £76,271,287 in 1993–94, as against £70,465,834 in 1992–93. The provision of lease cars for NHS staff working in regional and district health authorities and for those working in NHS trusts on Whitely terms and conditions are governed by section 24 of the general Whitley Council handbook. Under these arrangements, employees contribute to costs of lease cars according to the amount of private mileage included in the lease car contract. The figures do not take account of employee contributions for private use of lease cars, since this information is not held centrally. In some cases, cars are offered to trust staff as part of remuneration packages. A survey on the use of lease cars in the NHS was carried out by the general Whitely Council management side secretariat during June 1994. The replies showed 62 per cent of cars being used by nurses, midwives and doctors.