§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy that rail journeys undertaken by staff in her Department should ordinarily be on standard class tickets. [40431]
§ Mr. MorleySection 8 paragraph 8.2.1 of the Civil Service Management Code requires Departments and agencies to ensure staff use the most efficient and economic means of travel in the circumstances, taking account of any management benefit or the needs of staff with disabilities. These central principles are repeated in departmental and agency staff handbooks which also stress that official journeys may be taken only after other options of conducting official business (such as via telephone, email or video conferencing) have been considered unsuitable. These rules ensure that any official journey is undertaken only when appropriate and by the most appropriate means.
Following the creation of DEFRA my officials are reviewing a wide range of travel policies and procedures to take account of our responsibilities towards the environment. Indeed, the Department is developing a new framework, provisionally titled "Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate", that 940W will cover key operational areas across Government and, among other things, require Departments to promote greener modes of travel.