§ Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what use(a) his Department and (b) its agencies are currently making of the Government Purchase Card; what savings he estimates are being achieved as a result; what plans he has to expand use of the card by his Department and its agencies; and if he will make a statement. [55169]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 19 October 1998]: Of MAFF and its Agencies, only the Central Science Laboratory (CSL) and the Veterinary Laboratory Agency (VLA) are using the Government Purchase Card (GPC), introduced on 1 August 1998.
The core-Ministry and the VLA introduced their own pilot procurement card schemes in advance of the GPC. The VLA's was introduced in September 1996 and the 1085W Ministry's in August 1997. The VLA migrated to the GPC in May 1998. Details of the card numbers and usage are in the table.
MAFF VLA CSL Numbers of cards 72 130 2 Numbers of transactions 3,227 8,000 17 Value of transactions £103,000 £600,000 £18,000 Savings £33,580 £160,000 £340 The savings figures given above are based on an estimated average savings per transaction. The figure differs from scheme to scheme, but the administrative savings, which arise from the operational benefits procurement card provides, are estimated currently to be between £10 and £20 per transaction. The use of procurement cards for low value transactions is a primary means of reducing the costs of administrative procurement and improving response times for obtaining goods and services.
Having successfully completed a year's trial the core-Ministry now plans a phased roll out of its own card subject to the completion of a full economic appraisal. The other Agencies and one or two of the Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) were awaiting the results of the pilot schemes before deciding whether to take up the use of procurement cards. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquacultural Sciences (CEFAS) is now planning to introduce a card at the end of this financial year. On the basis of the success so far, I expect the other Agencies and the NDPBs who have approached us to be among the first new users set up as part of the phased roll out.