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Written question asked by David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party) on Monday, 18 January 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 20 January 2010. It was answered by Vera Baird (Labour) on Tuesday, 2 February 2010 on behalf of the Solicitor General.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Question
To ask the Solicitor-General how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on (a) new furnishings, (b) works of art and (c) new vehicles in each of the last three years.
Answer

The information requested is contained in the following tables:

Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol), Attorney-General's Office (AGO), HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and National Fraud Office
Financial year Total (£)
2006-07 33,742
2007-08 ¹258,172
2008-09 40,981
¹ Figure for 2007-08 includes expenditure associated with the AGO relocation to 20 Victoria Street.

The above table outlines capital expenditure on furniture, fixtures and fittings. It is not possible to separate spend on furniture from fixtures and fittings without incurring a disproportionate cost, and there has been no recorded expenditure on works of art or new vehicles.

The Serious Fraud Office
£
Financial year New furnishings New vehicles
2006-07 ¹277,535 ²92,350
2007-08 61,034 0
2008-09 42,145 0
¹ The increased spend for 2006-07 includes costs incurred by vacating offices in Verulam Gardens and consolidating accommodation on two sites at Elm Street and Grays Inn Road. ² The one-off figure 2006-07 is the cost of a specialised incident response and mobile laboratory unit acquired by the SFO and operated by the City of London Police.

The SFO have no record of any expenditure on artwork during the last three financial years.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
Total (£ million)¹
2006-07 1.5
2007-08 1.3
2008-09 2.1
¹ These figures include expenditure by the RCPO, which merged with the CPS in 2009-10.

The data provided cover items that cost over £500 only and it is possible that additional furniture and furnishings have been purchased at a lower cost. To obtain information on low value items would incur disproportionate cost.The CPS is a devolved organisation. To identify spend relating to works of art would require local managers to review all paper procurement records and would incur disproportionate cost.The CPS has not purchased any new vehicles in the last three years.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
505 c244W; 312524
Session
2009-10
Related items
Crown Prosecution Service: Art Works
Monday, 8 February 2010
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Public expenditure Solicitor General
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk