§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to estimate the approximate breakdown of the total cost to his Department of £10,324,000 spent on travel and subsistence in the United Kingdom 1982–83 into categories of subsistence and travel by road, rail and air, respectively.
§ Mr. BrittanNo. As I stated in the footnote to my reply to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Mr. Forsyth) on 18 November—[Vol. 48, c.594] — separate figures are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The estimated cost of air travel within the United Kingdom during 1982–83, however, was approximately £30,000.
Consideration is currently being given to means by which more detailed information can be provided about individual elements of travel and subsistence expenditure.