§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the annual telephone costs to(a) his Department, (b) his Department's agencies and (c) his Department's non-departmental public bodies staff for each of the years (i) 1979–80, (ii) 1989–90, (iii) 1991–92, (iv) 1993–94, (v) 1994–95, (vi) 1995–96 and (vii) 1996–97; and if internal telephone directories are available to staff in all areas of (a) to (c). [11338]
§ Mr. HoramAnnual telephone costs incurred by the Department and its agencies are as follows: 379W
- 1990–91: £4,739,561
- 1991–92: £3,017,000
- 1992–93: £3,490,000
- 1993–94: £3,419,000
- 1994–95: £2,951,740
- 1995–96: £2,914,000 Estimated outturn
- 1996–97: £3,734,000 Forecast
The figure for 1996–97 additionally includes the telephone costs of approximately 1,100 staff in the eight new national health service executive regional offices at seven separate sites.
Separate figures for the Department of Health are not available before 1990–91 since such costs were incurred by the combined Departments of Health and of Social Security.
No central records are available for the telephone costs of non-departmental public bodies.
Internal telephone directors are available to all staff in the Department, its agencies, and non-departmental public bodies.