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10 Jan 2005 : Column 116W—continued

Departmental Credit Cards

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many credit cards for official expenditure are held by his Department. [206441]

Mr. Lammy: My Department does not hold any credit cards for official expenditure.

Departmental Expenditure

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost of travel within the UK for the Department was in each year since 1997; and how much of this was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (e) subsistence. [206474]

Mr. Lammy: It is not possible to list how much was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence by the Department without incurring disproportionate cost. However, total travel costs within the UK for the Department, which covers costs for the Court Service, the Public Guardianship Office (PGO) and the Department for Constitutional Affairs Headquarters (DCA HQ), are set out in the table.
 
10 Jan 2005 : Column 117W
 

Travel costs within the UK

	(£ million)
2004–05 (to 30 November)	4,070,863
2003–04	5,913,187
2002–03	5,035,694
2001–02	4,522,177
2000–01	4,169,902
1999–2000	4,237,897
1998–99	3,506,760

There has been an increase in travel costs for DCA since 2002–03 because of the increased responsibilities for the Department.

Information on 1997–98 is not readily available.

All Civil Service travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Civil Service Management Code, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Department spent on first class travel in each year since 1997. [206561]

Mr. Lammy: The costs for first class travel in each year since 1997 are not separately identifiable within the Department's accounts without incurring disproportionate costs.

All Civil Service travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Civil Service Management Code, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, have been made by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip. [206660]

Mr. Lammy: It is not possible for the Department to provide the full detailed information requested and what the costs of overseas (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were without incurring disproportionate costs. However, total overseas travel costs for the Department, which covers costs for Court Service, Public Guardianship Office (PGO) and the Department for Constitutional Affairs Headquarters (DCAHQ), are set out in the table:
Overseas Travel Costs

	(£000)
2004–05 (to 30 November)	110,214
2003–04	172,631
2002–03	145,257
2001–02	96,251
2000–01	153,737
1999–2000	103,449
1998–99	110,774

There has been an increase in travel costs since 2002–03, because of the increased responsibilities of the Department.

Information on the previous year is not readily available.
 
10 Jan 2005 : Column 118W
 

All Civil Service travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Civil Service Management Code, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

E-mails

Sue Doughty: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what his Department's policy is in relation to the storage and deletion of e-mails; and whether this policy has been reviewed in the past 12 months; [206732]

(2) what his Department's policy is in relation to the storage of documents and the use of shredders; and whether this policy has been reviewed in the past 12 months. [206733]

Mr. Leslie: The Department for Constitutional Affairs continues to implement well established policies and procedures for the review and disposal of files in accordance with its administrative needs and the Public Records Act.

E-mail messages that form part of the official record are saved for as long as business needs require and stored corporately in accordance with departmental record management procedures. Further email guidance is available on the National Archives web site at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/electronicrecords/advice/pdf/managing_emails.pdf

Llew Smith: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what guidance he has issued to Government departments in respect of the retention and deletion of e-mails; and what consideration was given to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in providing guidance. [207141]

Mr. Leslie: The Department for Constitutional Affairs' 'Guidance on Processing Requests', which is published on the internet at www.foi.gov.uk , states at Chapters 2 and 10 that it is the responsibility of all members of staff to manage their e-mail messages appropriately. This means staff must identify email messages that are records of their business activities and those that are not.

It is important that email messages that form part of the official record are saved for as long as business needs require and are moved from email accounts and personal folders and stored corporately in accordance with departmental record management procedures. Email messages that do not form part of the official record should be managed within the mailbox in the short term but permanently deleted when no longer required.

Full consideration was given to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 when drafting this advice.

Entertainment Costs

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been spent on entertainment by his Department in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) food, (b) alcohol, (c) staff and (d) accommodation. [204348]

 
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Mr. Lammy: Expenditure on entertainment for the Department, which covers costs for the Court Service, the Public Guardianship Office and DCA headquarters are set out in the following table:

Period	Total DCA
2004–05 (to 30 November)	45,798
2003–04	79,050
2002–03	43,378
2001–02	44,730
2000–01	60,768
1999–2000	71,166
1998–99	45,087

However, it is not possible to list the entertainment costs spent by the Department broken down by (a) food, (b) alcohol, (c) staff and (d) accommodation without incurring disproportionate cost.

Information on previous years is not readily available.

Invoice Payments

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the average length of time was between the date of invoices issued to his Department from a supplier and payment by the Department of the invoice in the last 12 months for which figures are available; what percentage of these invoices were paid within 30 days of the date of issue of the invoice; what percentage of these invoices remained unpaid after 90 days; and if he will make a statement on the Department's policy on the payment of invoices issued to it. [200614]

Mr. Lammy: During the period 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 the Department paid supplier invoices, on average, within 15 days (unaudited figures). During this period, the Department paid 91.5 per cent. of undisputed invoices within 30 days or the agreed credit terms and 0.84 per cent. (unaudited figure) of invoices remained unpaid after 90 days.

The Government are committed to improving the payment culture in the UK in order to create a fair and stable environment for business transactions. Government Departments and their agencies should aim to pay all invoices not in dispute within 30 days or within the agreed contractual terms if otherwise specified. The Department supports this policy.

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