Written question asked by Matt Hancock (Conservative) on Tuesday, 27 July 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 September 2010. It was answered by Peter Luff (Conservative) on Monday, 6 September 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Taxis

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on taxi fares in each year since 1997.

Answer: The Ministry of Defence reimbursed service personnel £1.1 million in taxi fares during 2009-10. Expenditure in earlier years, and on taxi fares claimed by civilian staff, is not recorded separately and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.Our staff may only use a taxi for official duty when there is a business benefit to the MOD or when it saves money. A taxi is typically used where no other suitable form of public transport is available. In the present economic conditions, we have also been constraining the amount of travel undertaken.

Secondary information