Follow the Money - Bureaucracy


You'll see that unfortunately it is currently very difficult to find the information you want about how taxes are being spent on bureaucracy. Here are some examples of questions that the Government is unable to answer. We want to change this.

Click here to find out how.



Question. What the cost of recruitment of civil servants was for each financial year from 1996 to the present, broken down by Department?

Government Answer. The Cabinet Office does not collect centrally the information requested and could only do so at disproportionate cost.



Question. How much was spent on recruitment advertising in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years, broken down by publication; and what was the proportion of such expenditure (a) to advertise vacant posts and (b) in the form of other general recruitment advertising?

Government Answer. Information on expenditure by NIO is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.



Question. What has been the cost of (a) maintaining and (b) holding publicly funded functions at Lancaster House was in each of the last five years?

Government Answer. To provide the cost of holding publicly funded functions at Lancaster House for the last five years would incur disproportionate costs.



Question. How much did HM Treasury spend on (a) focus groups and (b) opinion polls in each year from 1995-96 to 2003-04?

Government Answer. Detailed information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.



Question. How much has each local authority electoral registration department spent per elector in England in each of the last 10 years, listed in descending order by region?

Government Answer. This information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.



Question. What are the running costs for Inland Revenue tax offices in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement?

Government Answer. The Inland Revenue has approximately 350 local Tax Offices. However many are located in multi-occupied buildings with other Revenue Offices. For example, a building might house a Tax Office but it could also house a Contact Centre, Tax Enquiry Point, Working Families Tax Credit Office etc.
It would therefore require a disproportionate amount of effort to manually extract and disaggregate the running costs attributable to local Tax Offices.



Question. What has the total salary bill been for (a) Culture North East, (b) the East Midlands Cultural Consortium, (c) Living east, (d) the North West Cultural Consortium, (e) the South East England Cultural Consortium, (f) the South West Regional Cultural Consortium, (g) the West Midlands Life Cultural Consortium and (h) the Yorkshire Cultural Consortium in each year since its creation?

Government Answer. The information requested is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Regional Cultural Consortiums do not at present directly employ any staff themselves. Those who work for the Consortiums are employed by other regional agencies and partners and paid by those organisations.



Question. What was the expenditure of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on head-hunters and recruitment consultants and management consultants in the last year for which figures are available?

Government Answer. An analysis of expenditure on head-hunters and recruitment consultants is not recorded on the Department's accounting system and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.



Question. How much funding has been applied for and paid out to each region from European Union Structural Funds to date; and how much it is planned that each region will get in total from these funds?

Government Answer. Details of the amounts of European Structural Funds applied for and paid out to each region since the Funds first became available in the United Kingdom are not kept centrally. Compiling these figures now could be done only disproportionate cost.

Question. How much matched EU funding was made available by the DTI in each year since 1997, broken down by nation of the United Kingdom?

Government Answer. Details of funds distributed by DTI to match European Structural Funds are not recorded centrally, and could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost.



Question: How many conferences were attended by officials from the Department, cancelled by and facilitated by the Department in each year since 1997; and what the cost to the Department and location was in each case?

Government Answer. This information is not held centrally in my Department and therefore could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.



Question: What is the estimate of the cost of ministerial cars and drivers and taxis for The Crown Prosecution Service in 2002?

Government Answer: The Crown Prosecution Service does not separately record expenditure on taxis and it would incur disproportionate cost to identify this information.



Question: How much has the Department for Culture, Media and Sport spent on IT systems in each year since 1997; what was the purpose of each system; what was the out-turn against planned expenditure of each system; and what was the planned and actual date of completion of each system?

Government Answer. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not hold the information in the format requested. The question could be answered only at disproportionate costs.



Question: What was the total cost to the Department for Work and Pensions for accountancy services in each of the last two years?

Government Answer. The information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.



Question: How much has been spent by the Department for Trade and Industry in each year since 1997 on taskforces and similar bodies?

Government Answer. Only the costs of the Small Business Investment Taskforce for 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2003–04 are separately identifiable. These were:
£000
2000–01 17
2001–02 39
2003–04 60

The Small Business Investment Taskforce's costs for 2002–03 and those of DTI's other Taskforces and similar bodies are not identified separately within DTI's Accounts and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.



Question: What was the total expenditure saved in each of the last three years as a result of implementing recommendations by management consultancies in the Department for Trade and Industry?

Government Answer. This information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.



Question: What was the total spending by the Department for Trade and Industry on staff, accommodation and procurement in Perth and North Perthshire for the most recent year for which figures are available?

Government Answer. A detailed analysis of the Department's expenditure by specific geographical location cannot be provided other than at disproportionate cost.



Question: What was the total external spending by the Department for Work and Pensions on private finance initiative (PFI) consultants in each of the last two years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days were there per year; what was the implied average cost of each PFI consultant; how many consultancy firms were used by the Department over this period?

Government Answer. The Department does not record information about the use of PFI consultants in the form requested and an answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost.



Question: How much was spent by the Law Offices on refreshments in each year since 1997?

Government Answer. The Crown Prosecution Service does not hold details centrally of how much it spends on refreshments and would incur disproportionate cost to obtain the information. The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office was not in being in 2004–05 being set up on 18 April 2005.



Question: How much has the Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies spent on advertising for job vacancies in each of the last five years?

Government Answer. This information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.



Question: What is the list of conferences, seminars, workshops, exhibitions and press conferences which have been sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and which took place on non-departmental premises in each of the last two years giving the title, purpose, date and cost of each?

Government Answer. Only press conferences and exhibitions are organised centrally and they are held internally, with no cost attached. Conferences, seminars, and workshops are organised and paid for (sometimes jointly and sometimes exclusively) by policy divisions across the Department. They are held both in-house and on non-departmental premises. The information relating to the title, purpose, date and cost of each could be answered only at disproportionate cost.



Question: How much was spent by the Department for Communities and Local Government on food and alcohol for its staff working out of office in each year since 2001-02?

Government Answer. The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold the information in the form requested which can be provided only at disproportionate cost.



Question: What is the list of the Cabinet Office IT projects in each year since 1997, broken down by amount spent, purpose, cost of overrun and time of overrun?

Government Answer. Information relating to information technology projects for each year since 1997 is not held centrally and is not separately identifiable in the Department's accounting systems. It cannot therefore be readily retrieved without incurring disproportionate cost.