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Written question asked by Jon Trickett (Labour) on Monday, 19 March 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 21 March 2012. It was answered by David Lidington (Conservative) on Monday, 26 March 2012 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Taxis

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on taxis for (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants between August 2011 and January 2012.
Answer

Procurement activity overseas is devolved to our network of over 260 posts across 170 countries. Information on taxi use by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff overseas is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We can therefore only provide information for travel in the UK.FCO Ministers have not used private hire or taxis on official business between August 2011 and January 2012, and this has been the case since May 2010. The only exception was one occasion when a Minister took a taxi on a visit to Cambridge in January 2012 at a cost of £19.50. During this period, transport has been provided through FCO Services or the Government Car Service. Section 10 of the Ministerial Code provides guidance on travel for Ministers and makes clear that Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements.The FCO currently uses two contracts in the UK with private hire companies: Addison Lee, covering the London area and Raffles Taxis covering the Milton Keynes area. The spend for these suppliers between August 2011 and January 2012, for both FCO and FCO Services, was £151,990.60.Like all Government Departments, the FCO ensures we use taxpayer's money very carefully to help reduce the overall costs of Government. Staff therefore are only allowed to use taxis in exceptional circumstances, when public transport is not available, or when their line manager agrees that taking a taxi will help keep a staff member safe during unsocial hours. As well as approver checks, expense claims will be subject to retrospective audit checks.FCO services is the trading arm of the FCO and as such is not tax payer funded. There is no public transport between the FCO Services site and the nearest station and so taxis are used to make sure staff are safe.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
101412; 542 c979W
Session
2010-12
Subjects
Taxis Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk