Bank of England spends £234,000 on chauffeur-driven cars

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8543839/Bank-of-England-spends-234000-on-chauffeur-driven-cars.html



The Bank of England is spending almost £250,000 a year on providing chauffeur-driven "secure cars" for its three most senior staff including the Governor, Mervyn King.

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By Emma Rowley 9:43PM BST 28 May 2011
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Mr King and his two deputies, Charlie Bean and Paul Tucker, last year charged approximately £19,000 every three months on expenses for the use of a "secure car". For the year the total is £234,328.
The amounts have been revealed in the latest set of business-related expenses published by the Bank for its top staff and policy makers.
Charlotte Linacre, campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "It's surprising that the bosses at the Bank of England are spending so much on expensive cars.
"There will be some reasonable travel costs but as a public body with a full understanding of the dire fiscal situation, they could work much harder to keep their own spending under control."
The other directors at the Bank do not have official cars, with their expenses showing claims for taxis and hire cars.
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The Bank cited security issues and the need for the governor and his deputies to be able to have private conversations in their cars, requiring security-cleared drivers as justification.
The other directors could use the cars in the pool if there was a need.
The expenses, published for the Bank's executive team and its interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, showed that the car pool last year accounted for more than half of just over £390,000 claimed by the Governor and his deputies for travel, official entertaining and subsistence on trips.
In all, the three men charged £1m in expenses over the three years to the end of December.
Mr King and his colleagues have consistently warned about the pressures on household budgets effected by high inflation and weak wage growth.
Earlier this year Mr King gave warning that households face the most dramatic squeeze in living standards since the 1920s. On Friday, Spencer Dale, the Bank's chief economist, warned the next two years would be a "relatively bleak time", citing the particular weakness in household sector.
Mr King is paid a salary of £305,368, according to the Bank's latest annual report, which also showed he refused a pay rise in 2010 and 2011.