Public Expenditure
(asked on 15th July 2014) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on (a) mobile telephones, (b) tablet computers and (c) office furniture in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.
The Department for Work and Pensions is a geographically-dispersed organisation employing around 90,000 staff across some 870 sites, delivering services directly to around 22 million customers.
Expenditure on mobile phones was £111,074 in 2010/11; £85,353 in 2011/12; and £196,427 in 2012/13.
Expenditure on tablet computers in 2010/11 and 2011/12 was nil. For 2012/13 I refer to the reply to PQ 151349 given to the Rt Hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) on 16 April 2013, official report Col.288W.
The Department occupies the majority of its estate under a Private Finance Initiative known as the PRIME Contract. Under this contract, the Department leases back fully-serviced accommodation from its private sector partner Telereal Trillium. The Department pays an inclusive unitary price for the space occupied, which includes the provision of office furniture. For those buildings and furniture requirements outside the scope of the PFI contract, the Department’s spend in 2010-11 was £603,686; 2011-12 was £537,468 and 2012-13 was £548,227. The Department’s Estates rationalisation programme has saved some £60 million in 2011/12 and 2012/13.