§ Mr. Butcherasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a random check on the purchase of typewriters, photocopiers and office furniture by Government Departments for the last month of the current financial year and 316W provide any figures which are available in order to make a comparison with the level of purchases of these items in each of the months between September 1979 and February 1980.
§ Mr. Channon[pursuant to his reply, 4 March 1980, c.149]: The information is as follows :
February 1980 March 1980 £m £m Typewriters 0.154 0.276 Photocopiers 0.053 0.148 Office furniture 2.400 2.900 The fact that the March figures are higher than those for earlier months should not be interpreted as reflecting an increase in demand. Amounts spent each month are governed by the incidence of billing rather than the volume of orders. Contractors tend to speed up their billing towards the end of the financial year, and accounts settled in March usually contain amounts for deliveries made earlier in the financial year.