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Travel

Answer

Details of this Department's spend with the Government Car Service (GCS) is published in the annual written ministerial statement, details of which can be found within the Libraries of both Houses:

Date from	Date to	GCS Spend (£)	Taxi and other car spend (£)
1 April 2009	31 March 2010	694,326	20,019
1 April 2010	12 May 2010	63,433	—
13 May 2010	31 March 2011	240,771	7,844
1 April 2011	31 March 2012	74,346	20,061

Details of the GCS costs for 2012-13 will be published in the normal way later this year. Total costs for taxis during 2012-13 will not be available until later this year.

As set out in the Ministerial Code Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements and all Ministers are encouraged to walk or use public transport wherever practicable.

During 2010-11 a saving of 56% on the GCS costs for 2009-10 was achieved despite the continuation of contractual requirements for half of the year. Savings continued during 2011-12 resulting in a saving of 89% on the 2009-10 costs.

BIS has substantially reduced the number of allocated cars that it uses from the Government Car Service, from seven to one when a new car service was introduced mid 2010.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

142628; 558 c749W

Session

2012-13

Subjects

Taxis Travel Official cars Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk