HC Deb 26 July 1999 vol 336 cc111-2W
Mr. Salmond

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the amounts his Department and its agencies spends on(a) running costs, (b) wage costs and (c) other administrative costs for those facilities and staff based in Scotland; indicating the headquarters administration costs and the total costs for the branch network. [92357]

Mr. Timms

DSS accounts for its administrative costs operationally (by Agency and Business Unit). It does not maintain accounting records by geographical territory and it is therefore not possible to provide reliable expenditure information in the format requested. For information on the Benefits Agency in Scotland, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Angus (Mr. Welsh) on 16 July 1999,Official Report, columns 349–50.