§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the(a) percentage and number of rail journeys undertaken on first class tickets, (b) average cost of a first class journey by rail and (c) total cost of rail travel in each of the past four years broken down by grade of civil servant. [37503]
Mr. MurphyMy staff undertake official rail journeys in line with the guidance and principles set out in section 8 of the Civil Service Management Code and departmental staff handbook.
The information on (a) is not held centrally and collating it would involve disproportionate costs.
In case of (b) the commonest rail journey is that between Cardiff and London for which the average first class return fare is around £140.
521WInformation on (c) is not available in the form requested. However, spending on UK travel by the Wales Office during 1999–2000 (since 1 July 1999) was £117,000, in 2000–01 £62,000 and in 2001–02 (to end of January 2002) £55,000.