Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Travel
(asked on 21st December 2017) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last four years.
The FCO’s expenditure on taxi, first class rail and business class air travel is detailed in the table below. The data on taxi travel shows the total global expenditure in the UK and all overseas Posts. The data on first class rail and business class air represents travel booked through the Government’s nominated travel agency.
Financial Year | Taxi Travel | First Class Rail Travel | Business Class Air Travel |
2013/14 | £1.4m | £1,590 | £5.4m |
2014/15 | £1.3m | £3,057 | £4.5m |
2015/16 | £1.7m | £2,597 | £4.6m |
2016/17 | £1.5m | £142 | £3.3m |
FCO policy is that public transport should be used whenever possible
All FCO staff are directed to use standard class for rail travel unless there are exceptional circumstances e.g. illness, disability or where First class facilities are essential for working while travelling. In these exceptional circumstances, prior line management approval must be given.
FCO staff travelling by air are required to book the lowest standard fare possible, subject to budget holder approval. As the FCO is present in over 170 countries there is oftern a need for long distance travel.