Expenditure
2.13 Departmental expenditure during the year ending 31st March, 1972, including that incurred on behalf of the armed forces, amounted to $896,850,508 which is $224,803,687 (or 33.4%) more than in the previous year and is the highest annual expenditure ever recorded. This figure represents 30.91% of total Government expenditure during the year, compared with 27.41% in 1970-71, and maintains the Public Works Department in its position as the largest spending department in Government.
2.14 As may be seen from the comparative analysis of expenditure at Appendix F there have been substantial increases in nearly all classes of expenditure and these are reflected also in the number of payment vouchers examined and passed for payment. There were 20,488 of these as against 18,212 in the previous year.
Head 62---Public Works Department
Personal Emoluments
2.15 There was a further increase in the approved establishment of the department to 13,778 from 12,772 in the previous year. The resultant expenditure was $146,918,719 or 16.38% of total expenditure, which exceeded the approved estimate of $142,358,800 by $4,559,919 and showed an increase of $14,694,189 or 11.1%, over the previous year's expenditure.
2.16 Despite the substantial increase in establishment the amount of overtime worked during the year was only marginally lower than that for 1970-71. Claims processed totalled 64,451, representing 2,090,064 hours or 261,258 days at a cost of $9,178,816 in allowances.
Other Charges
2.17 Departmental 'housekeeping' expenditure under 'Other Charges - Annually Recurrent' increased by a further $442,858, or 9% to $4,968,778 largely due to the impact of the first full year in occupation of Murray Building. Special Expenditure on items required to enable the various Offices to discharge their duties amounted to $1,978,252.
2.18 There was a continuing requirement for many officers to use their private vehicles for duty journeys and 9,014 claims for mileage allowance were processed during the year resulting in the expenditure of $1,339,865 on this item.
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