Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, 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 five years.

Expenditure should be viewed in the context of the size of the DWP workforce. The Department is a geographically-dispersed organisation employing around 90,000 staff across some 870 sites, delivering services directly to around 22 million customers. The table below shows the expenditure on taxis, 1^st class rail and business class air travel for the years in question.

The average spend per head on a taxi for 2013-14 was in the region of £1.67. Expenditure on taxis includes journeys to enable disabled members of staff to travel to and from work and respresents contractual spend and it does not include taxis claimed through expenses, as this could only be provided at disproportionate costs to the Department.

The DWP introduced a restriction stopping staff travelling 1^st class rail in 2011. Only DWP staff with disabilities are permitted to travel using 1^st class rail, if there are no suitable standard class facilities available.

The current DWP air travel policy only permits staff to book business class air tickets for single journeys greater than 2.5 hours in duration.

*Data is not available for taxi travel before 2010.