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The Department spent £460.29 on taxis for Ministers between August 2011 and January 2012. No central records are available for expenditure on taxis for civil servants.The Department's policy on travel by taxi (or use of the Government car service) is that it is not an entitlement and, where possible, journeys should be made by public transport. Taxi fares may be reimbursed only where there is no other suitable form of public transport, or where heavy luggage has to be transported, or where the saving in officials' time is important. Where necessary, a standing arrangement may be made, say, for the conveyance of a large number of files from a court office to a separate court building.The use of pot plants in the Department's buildings is very minimal. It is likely that some courts and prison buildings have pot plants in the reception area to give a welcoming atmosphere to visitors. For the Department's HQ estate, the expenditure on plants for this financial year is £14,000. The Department regularly reviews its policy on the use of pot plants to maximise value for money.Our accounting systems do not record expenditure in sufficient details to allow us to extract cost of cut flowers and pot plants from other miscellaneous expenditure.The Department does not hold central records for expenditure on complimentary refreshments for staff and visitors separately. However, the following restrictions apply to all staff:"No lunches, tea or coffees can be ordered for any internal meeting (i.e. a meeting between MOJ staff). Water and jugs are freely available in most of our offices.""For all external meetings (i.e. a meeting between MOJ staff and external stakeholders), lunch, tea and coffee purchases require director-level sign-off and are only allowed in exceptional circumstances."To provide information on Departmental expenditure on taxis for civil servants, cut flowers, pot plants and complimentary refreshments for staff and visitors would involve disproportionate cost. |