§ Mr. DevlinTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the full annual cost, including overheads, of his Department's purchasing activity.
§ Miss. WiddecombeThe full annual cost, including overheads, of those staff wholly or substantially engaged in purchasing in the DSS is £4 million, including the cost of staff engaged in stores activities. This figure excludes warehousing costs, those storage and distribution activities which are contracted out and staff who spend only a small proportion of their time in purchasing and supply. This cost amounts to 0.5 per cent. of the total purchasing spend of £812 million.