Michael Gove given £320k three-year contract for limo to drive him spherical
Michael Gove was supplied with a £320,000 chauffeur-driven limousine to drive him round through the second wave of Covid, paperwork have revealed.
The “executive car service” – unusually provided by a personal firm – assured Mr Gove a high of the road Jaguar XJL saloon automotive and his personal devoted driver. All however probably the most senior Cabinet Ministers are often anticipated to make use of automobiles supplied by the Government Car Service’s (GCS) pool of automobiles.
Lower ranked ministers often don’t get a devoted driver, and should make do with the GCS ‘pool’ of automobiles. While Mr Gove attended cupboard in his position as Cabinet Office Minister, different ministers in earlier years would have been anticipated to make use of the pool.
But in Autumn 2020, a contract was drawn as much as present Mr Gove with a devoted automotive on a 3 12 months contract price £107,000 a 12 months. The Cabinet Office wouldn’t say why Mr Gove was given a privately provided automotive, relatively than one from the Government fleet.
“Bookings for the service”, the contract stipulated, “are made directly between the Minister’s Diary Secretary and the supplier’s driver via regular phone or text messages throughout the day. The type of journeys undertaken are typically short journeys across London. e.g. from the Minister’s home address to the Houses of Parliament.”
On request, the driving force would even be instructed to choose up Gove’s ministerial pink field to take it to his dwelling deal with or to the Cabinet Office.
Mr Gove, who was just lately mobbed by pro-Palestinian protesters in Victoria Station, had particular provisions constructed into the November 2020 contract to guard him from related incidents through the pandemic.
“The Supplier’s driver”, the contract stated, “will apply reasonable endeavours to safeguard the Minister during official journeys.”
“This will include: driving to a safe location, as soon as possible, in the event of any untoward/unwanted attention from the public; [and] locking the vehicle’s doors to prevent them from being opened externally and ensuring all windows are closed, in the event of any untoward/unwanted attention from the public.”
The Department for Transport (DfT), which supplies the service, is meant to publish the price of pool automobiles to every division yearly, however the newest out there information is from 2016.
At that point, the price of three automobiles supplied to the Cabinet Office was £181,486 – round £60,000 per automotive, per 12 months.
And this working value is more likely to have lowered lately because the GCS changed its fleet with electrical and hybrid automobiles.
While the contract was initially put in place for Mr Gove, it was moved to the Housing and Communities division in January 2021, after which once more to the Department for International Trade (now the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) in October 2022.
DBT have since prolonged the contract till June 2024.
A authorities spokesperson stated: “Ministerial transportation can be provided from other suppliers, beyond the government car service. All contract processes have been followed and all contracts are published online as part of our commitment to transparency.”
