§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is his estimate of the cost of(a) Ministerial cars and drivers and (b) the Department's bill for taxis in (i) 1995–96, (ii) 1996–97, (iii) 1997–98 to date and (iv) 1997–98 full year. [27801]
§ Angela EagleThe estimated costs for the use of Ministerial cars and drivers is as follows:
1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 to date 1997–98 full year DOE 361,317 348,466 — — DOT 247,292 190,544 — — DETR — — 424,285 509,000 Total 608,609 539,010 424,285 509,000 The figures for 1997–98 includes expenditure incurred by the former Departments of the Environment and Transport prior to merger.
As indicated in my reply to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 26 January 1998, Official Report, column 15, this Department has reduced the number of Ministerial cars and drivers to 9. The previous Government had 10 cars prior to the General Election.
The information requested on the Departmental use of taxis cannot be separately identified.