§ Mr. J. Morrisonasked the Minister of Supply how many regional car pools are maintained by his Department; how many staff are employed; what is the annual cost; and whether he is satisfied that the demand for the services of the pool cars and their drivers is not artificially increased by restricting the amount of petrol issued to officials for official travel in their own private cars.
§ Mr. G. R. StraussThere are 12 regional pools of the official car services with 15 sub-pools, serving all Government Departments. The total staff is 470 and the cost last year was £223,000. The effect of restricting the amount of petrol issued to officers for official travel in their own cars is that public transport, particularly rail, is used to a greater extent. The increase in the demands on the official car services is relatively small.