To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 27 October 2009, Official Report, column 251W, on 10 Downing Street, how purchase orders for expenditure on renovation and refurbishment are (a) authorised and (b) electronically held; how quotations are obtained in advance of work on renovation and refurbishment; and how the Total Facilities Management Provider is reimbursed for expenditure on renovation and refurbishment over and above routine maintenance. (315220)

All expenditure incurred by the Cabinet Office is procured and authorised in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in ‘Managing Public Money’ and the Treasury handbook on ‘Regularity & Propriety’. The departmental guidance is available to all staff on the Cabinet Office intranet.

Only staff with the appropriate delegated financial authority may authorise Cabinet Office expenditure.