Civil Servants (Pay and Conditions) (Hansard, 23 July 1997)

§ Mrs. Liddell

[holding answer 22 July 1997]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Archy Kirkwood, dated 23 July 1997: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply, as Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to your recent parliamentary questions (9459, 9460, 9461, 9462) on Civil Servants travelling by car when involved in field work. The Social Survey is a division of the ONS and carries out social and economic surveys commissioned by government departments and other public bodies. The Labour Force Survey provides independent, accurate and reliable information about people's intentions in the area of employment. Labour Force Survey Interviewer contracts of employment are fundamentally different from main stream ONS employees and reflect the unique nature of their work. Terms and conditions of service and rates of pay are negotiated directly with the Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists (IPMS), the civil service union recognised for collective bargaining purposes. The Labour Force survey is continuous throughout the year but the amount of work available for field interviewers fluctuates each week. Employment is therefore paid at an hourly rate. The hourly rates have been calculated to include an additional supplement for bank holidays, privilege days and annual leave days which are not paid at the time they are taken, Interviewer appointments are not pensionable, and for periods of sickness absence only payments due under statutory entitlement are made. To compensate for this, the hourly rate for pay has been further enhanced. Interviewers are paid for time spent travelling to and from working area, and for time spent calling on people and interviewing in the area. Study, planning and administration time are also paid. Payment is not made for periods when interviewers are unavailable for work or when there is no suitable work available. Labour Force Interviewers contact and interview informants by calling on them at home. The use of a car is essential and a motor mileage allowance is payable for use of a private vehicle on official business. Since 1994 government departments and agencies have been free to set their own rates of motor mileage allowance, which are payable to employees travelling necessarily in the course of their paid employment. Motor mileage rates therefore differ from department to department according to prevailing circumstances. The ONS operates a single rate of motor mileage allowance for all private motor vehicles. The rate for the first 4,000 miles is 37 pence per mile. The rate for mileage in excess of 4,000 miles is 24 pence per mile. This rate of motor mileage allowance currently applies to all ONS employees irrespective of type of appointment. Guidance for Labour Force Survey field workers, relating to the use of private vehicles on official business, is available in the Pay and Expenses Handbook for Labour Force Survey Interviewers. Expenses claims for mileage are only allowed when field workers have used a car which has been specifically authorised for official use. For a vehicle to be authorised it must satisfy certain insurance conditions. The insurance policy must include: cover for damage to or loss of the vehicle, cover for bodily injury to or death of third parties or any passenger, and of damage to the property of third parties, cover for the use of the car either in connection with the employee's business or the business of the employing department. In addition, the insurers must undertake to indemnify the Crown (in the event of a claim against the Crown as the driver's employer) to the same extent as the insured is covered under the policy, on the understanding that the insurers are allowed to retain control of the claim.