The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr Hugo Swire)
I would like to inform the House that the British embassy in Beijing has accepted an offer, from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), of nine vehicles for their official fleet.
The value of this arrangement is around £340,000. The new vehicles will replace a range of official vehicles, of many foreign brands, that are currently used by the embassy. Under the arrangement, JLR has offered to purchase nine existing fleet vehicles at second-hand value of £115,000, and provide the new vehicles by way of gift of a value of £225,000.
The saving to the British taxpayer from this arrangement is estimated to be around £300,000, which represents the cost of replacing the nine vehicles by other means. JLR is the UK’s leading exporter of goods to China, and this arrangement will help promote British excellence in manufacturing. The new vehicles that JLR will provide have been made in the UK, using British steel.
I am satisfied that this arrangement properly constitutes a gift to the embassy from JLR and conforms to all procedures governing such transactions. All other manufacturers based in the UK, who produce vehicles in the UK, were approached about future fleet requirements. The embassy will own the vehicles outright and use them for official business requirements only.
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