§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the travel costs were of civil servants in(a) his Department and (b) its related agencies in each year since 1997. [183893]
§ Hilary BennThe figures reflect domestic and overseas travel. All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules contained in DFID's staff handbook, which reflects the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code. Figures for earlier years are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Figures for travel costs within administration costs budgets for years for which information is readily available are as follows.
£ Amount 2001–02 2,358,000 2002–03 2,645,000 In 2003–04 DFID introduced new procedures to capture administration costs, which had previously been recorded on the programme budget. This included travel expenditure, previously incurred by overseas offices, which constitutes the bulk of official travel. These changes will increase transparency and enable DFID to manage administrative costs more effectively, but means that 2003–04 figures are not comparable with earlier years.
£ Amount 2003–041 10,715,000 1Provisional