§ Tony BaldryTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of his Department's budget for the current financial year is spent on(a) information technology systems, (b) its estate and (c) staff salaries and allowances; and what the percentage was in 2000–01. [131093]
§ Mr. RammellDuring the year 2000–01, the FCO spent the following proportion of its budget on information technology systems, the estate and staff salaries and allowances:
Percentage IT systems 2.9 Estate (capital) 7.0 Staff salaries and allowances 31.0 Including costs for locally engaged staff in overseas posts
269WFor 2003–04, the FCO has allocated the following proportions of its budget to the same areas of expenditure:
Percentage IT Systems 2.2 Estate (capital) 4.0 Staff salaries and allowances 24.0 The figures for estate comprise capital spending only. Responsibility for non-capital maintenance spending on the overseas estate is devolved to posts. Details of the proportion of post budgets allocated to estate maintenance are not held centrally. Gathering this information from all 230 posts could only be done with considerable effort. Total expenditure can only be determined once the financial year is over and post budget information is consolidated with other FCO expenditure.