Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Lord President of the Council if he will quantify the cost of the factors which led to an increase in the cost of cars for Ministers in his Department since 1990–91.
§ Mr. NelsonThere are two main factors which have led to an increase in the cost per Government car service car2W for Ministers in my Department. The first is the effect of inflation which, since 1990–91, has added some 12 per cent. to GCS costs, particularly pay, vehicles and fuel. The second factor is that during the period the GCS restructured its charge to reflect the fact that it had been under-recovering its costs by some 15 per cent.