HC Deb 25 November 1987 vol 123 cc196-7W
Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what residential accommodation is provided for departmental Ministers and civil servants and charged to public funds; and what has been the total cost in each financial year since 1979.

Mr. Malcolm Rifkind

[holding answer 17 November 1987]: The only residential accommodation provided for Scottish Office Ministers is my official residence at Bute house, Edinburgh which is used primarily for receptions and other formal Government occasions. The running cost figures for Bute house (rent, rates, fuel and maintenance) are as follows:

£
1979–80 8,000
1980–81 37,000
1981–82 9,000
1982–83 11,000
1983–84 14,000
1984–85 12,000
1985–86 52,000
1986–87 102,000

The figures for 1980–81, 1985–86 and 1986–87 reflect the incidence of major works of maintenance.

Residential accommodation continues to be provided for prison staff on a diminishing scale. The available figures for the net running costs are:

£
1981–82 184,000
1982–83 258,000
1983–84 215,000
1984–85 137,000
1985–86 199,000
1986–87 94,000

The information in respect of other civil servants is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost and on an incomplete basis.