To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was claimed in expenses for taxi travel by officials from (a) her Department and (b) its executive agencies in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2005-06, (iii) 2004-05, (iv) 2003-04 and (v) 2002-03; and if she will make a statement. (227057)

The Home Office spend on taxis for financial years 2002-03 to 2006-07 is set out in the following table. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management and Ministerial Codes.

These figures include expenditure by the core Home Office and the UK Border Agency. The Identity and Passport Service figures are included from 2004-05 as 2002-03 and 2003-04 can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Figures for Criminal Records Bureau are excluded as these can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

For financial years 2002-03 and 2003-04, the figures also include expenditure by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) which transferred to Ministry of Justice in 2007. Their costs can be identified and deducted only at disproportionate cost.

The difference in costs over the period reflects the changing nature of the Home Office's business, in particular the growth of international terrorism and migration. Collaboration and information exchange both domestically and internationally on counter-terrorism activities and border control have become increasingly critical to the effective discharge of the Department's responsibilities for asylum, immigration and national security. This has involved higher levels of overseas and UK travel.