§ Mr. Spearingasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to his policy of obtaining maximum value from public expenditure, he will take steps to separate the known costs of Government Departments between subsistence and travel by road, rail, and air, respectively.
§ Mr. HayhoeIt is for Departments to design their financial management systems to separate their costs in the way most helpful to obtaining maximum value from their expenditure. However, the Treasury is setting up a system 25W —expected to be operational by mid 1984—to collect the principal constituent parts of travel and subsistence costs from the 10 largest Departments. This will help ensure that the rules for travel and subsistence promote cost effectiveness.