Huge Annual Cost Of Government Travel

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 October 1948, Page 6

Huge Annual Cost Of Government Travel

The administrative functions of government have become more and more a matter of movement with the passing years, and, according to figures extracted by an amateur statistician, ever.? man, woman, and child in New Zealand contributes . 27s 6d annually towards the purchase and operation of the motor vehicles used by Government departments. No information is available as to the size of this enormous fleet of vehicles, but according to the Estimates for the year ending March 31, 1949, the Government proposesto spend approximately £1,120.000 on new cars and trucks this year, and it will . cost more than £1,300,000 to maintain those 'already on the road. Exceeds Last Year’s The amount which it is proposed to spend on new vehicles exceeds that actually spent for this purpose during the previous year by some £700,000 and maintenance costs also show an increase of about £30,000. . Impressive though these figures are, they do not over-stress expenditure on this score; actually they are an under-estimate. It is possible to arrive at the figures only by closely scrutinising the estimates and adding the items for vehicle purchase and maintenance as they appear iff departmental vote.

; Some departments, however, are not co-operative and offer the statistician no assistance. Take for example the estimates for the Electric Supply Account. They include an item of £6,270,000 for “new works, purchase of plant, motor vehicles and materials for st®ck, including administration costs and expenses and compensation payments.” Without more detailed information, it is impossible to make any estimate of

what proportion of this sum is to be spent on motor vehicles. Railway Road Services As against this, there is in the Working Railways Account an item of £482,305 for the purchase of road motor services (motor services, vehicles and equipment). Obviously, all this money will not be spent on vehicles alone, but the whole sum has been included in the present calculation to offset the non-inclusion of this item from other accounts which do not show it separately. Another department which does not itemise to an extent which would assist the compiler of these records is the Works Department, which includes in its accounts £120,000 for travelling expenses and transfer expenses of officers (including motor hire, motor mileage, travelling allowance and maintenance of motor vehicles). / On the maintenance side, some of the biggest spenders are the Heaitn Department (£45,000), Transport Department, Enforcement Brancn (£27,500), Police Department (£30,000), Works Department Housing Construction Branch (£l9,uuu;. The Education Department spends £577,000 on the transport of school children, this sum being made up of maintenance on. departmental xehicles„used for the purpose, and allowance to teacher-drivers, etc. Ministerial Cars The Post and Telegraph Department which is charged with the maintenance of Ministerial cars, as well as of its own vehicles, will spend £329,000 tms year, made up as follows:— Allowances sor.Kn.aflowenda Allowances .. •- . • • • • Purchase of accessories .. s&,uuu Petrol and oil 10 5>0™ Registration and insurance T.auu Repairs and hire .. • • • • jd.uuu Wages of temporary chauffeurs etc. ’ 15,uiiu Workshops material and plant 65,000 Wages of temporary mechanics, etc, .. • • • • J /’nnn Miscellaneous .. ■, ■ ■ & ’ uuu

Total 329,000 It will be noted that this table does not include an amount for the wages of permanent hands engaged on motor vehicle maintenance, this figure not being shown separately but included under salaries in general. When it comes to the purchase of

vehicles this year, the most ambitious is again the Post and Telegraph Department which hopes to cram into its many garages new vehicles worth £325,000. The Education Department is in the market for £57,000 worth of vehicles and other heavy spenders are the Housing Construction branch (£30,000). Health Department (£20,000), the Lands De : partment (£37,000) and the Maori Affairs Department £19,300). All expenditure on motor vehicle purchase and maintenance is not to meet the cost of travel. Many departments have large fleets of trucks engaged on construction and haulage, but this may be regarded as part of a general service to keep the Government and its departments mobile. Free Railway Passes All travel, however; is not by motor. Another £500,000 or so is provided in the departmental votes as general travelling expenses. This includes such items as £22,200 for free railway passes for members of both Houses of Parliament and £30,050 as travelling allowances for Ministers of the Crown and their staffs. Another heavy item, which could be regarded as travelling expenses, is the sum of £llO,OOO voted to meet mileage fees of medical practitioners under social security medical benefits.

Even this does not complete the full tally of the New Zealand Government’s travelling expenses. This year there is more than voted for overseas travel, this including Ministerial tours and trips abroad by departmental officers and New Zealand delegations to various conferences such as those convened by the United Nations. Away out in front of other departments in provision for overseas travel is the External Affairs Department, which has a vote of £60,000 to cover “New Zealand representation at international conferences, etc.” The Bill for Government mobility this year totals something more than £3,000,000.