HC Deb 06 February 1985 vol 72 cc564-7W
Mr. Mason

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will list the overseas visits undertaken by the 14 Select Committees since 1979; for what purpose they were undertaken; how many officers and advisers accompanied each delegation; and what have been the total cots incurred by each Committee on these visits.

Mr. Biffen

[pursuant to his reply, 30 January 1985, c. 184]: The information is given in the following table:

Session Destination Staff Purpose
1979–80 United States of America, Washington D.C., New York and Houston, Texas 2 Relevant to inquiry into Information Storage and Retrieval in the British Library Service and inquiry into The Funding and Organisation of Courses in Higher Education.
1980–81 Rome, Bonn and Copenhagen 2 Relevant to inquiry into The Secondary School Curriculum and Examinations, with special reference to the 14–16 year old age group and the inquiry into the Public and Private Funding of the Arts.
1980–81 United States of America, Washington D.C., New York, Houston, Texas 2 Relevant to inquiry into Public and Private Funding of the Arts.
1982–83 France *3 Relevant to inquiry into Education and Training of 14–19 year olds and follow up to Public and Private Funding of the Arts Report.
The total costs incurred on these visits by the Committee are £37,017.
* One clerk, two advisers: the advisers accompanied the Committee each for half of the visit.
Employment Committee
1979–80 Canada 2 Training, job creation.
1980–81 Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany 1 Employee participation job creation.
1980–81 Sweden, Norway 4 Employee participation, industrial relations
1981–82 United States of America 2 Impact of new technology on employment.
1981–82 Austria 2 Job creation, training.
1982–83 Japan 1 Impact of new technology on employment.
1983–84 Denmark 2 Training, job creation, industrial relations.
1984–85 New Zealand and Australia 2 Training, industrial relations.
The total costs incurred to date on these visits by the Committee are £66,761.
† The main reasons for the individual visits are shown. However, all the subjects were also discussed in other places, ie industrial relations in Canada and Japan, training in Sweden and the Federal Republic of Germany etc. In addition, matters such as health and safety at work and combating sexual and/or racial discrimination in employment' were also discussed in all countries.
Energy Committee
1979–80 United States of America, Canada 2 Relevant to The New Nuclear Power Programme Inquiry.
1979–80 France, Germany 2 Relevant to The New Nuclear Power Programme Inquiry.
1980–81 United States of America 2 Relevant to Combined Heat and Power Inquiry.
1981–82 Germany and Denmark 4 Relevant to Combined Heat and Power Inquiry.
1982–83 France, Germany and Sweden 3 Relevant to Energy Research Development and Demonstration in the United Kingdom Inquiry.
1983–84 United States of America and Japan 2 Relevant to Energy Research Development and Demonstration in the United Kingdom
The total costs incurred to date on these visits by the Committee are £81,825.
Environment Committee
1982–83 United States of America 2 Relevant to Problems of Management of Urban Renewal Inquiry.
1983–84 West Germany 3 Relevant to Acid Rain Inquiry.
1983–84 Scandanavia 2 Relevant to Acid Rain Inquiry.
The total costs incurred to date on these visits by the Committee are £27,087.
Foreign Affairs Committee
1979–80 Bahrain, Oman, Thailand, Jordan, Malawi, Kenya 1 Afghanistan inquiry and Development Divisions inquiry.
1980–81 Gibraltar, Madrid 2 Gibraltar/United Kingdom-Spanish relations inquiry.
1981–82 Washington, New York 2 Talks at United Nations and Congress on Development issues; Namibia, Central America.
1981–82 (Group 1) (Caribbean) Jamaica, Cuba, Venezuela, Grenada, Trinidad, Barbados (Group 2) (Central America) Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador 4 Caribbean and Central American Inquiry.
1982–83 United Nations, New York 2 Falkland Islands inquiry.
1982–83 Falklands Islands 3 Falkland Islands inquiry.
1983–84 Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago 1 Grenada inquiry.
1983–84 United Nations, New York 1 Falkland Islands inquiry.
1983–84 Bonn, Paris, Rome 2 Fontainebleau Summit inquiry.
Sub-Committee on Overseas Development
1979–80 Malawi, Kenya 1 Development Divisions inquiry.
1979–80 OECD, Paris 1 Talks with OECD Development Committee on its Aid functions.
1980–81 Zimbabwe 2 Zimbabwe inquiry.
1980–81 Brussels, Luxembourg 2 Zimbabwe inquiry.
1981–82 Caisse Centrale de Cooperation Economique, Paris 2 Development Divisions inquiry.

Session Destination Staff Purpose
1981–82 Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi 2 Commonwealth Development Corporation inquiry.
1982–83 FAO, Rome 2 ODA Scientific and Special Units inquiry.
The total costs incurred to date on these visits by the Committee and the Sub-Committee are £143,533.
Home Affairs—Sub-Committee on Race Relations and Immigration
1980–81 United States of America and West Indies 1 Racial Disadvantage inquiry.
1981–82 India and Bangladesh 1 Immigration from the Indian Sub-Continent.
1981–82 United States of America and Canada 1 Ethnic question in the census.
1983–84 Hong Kong 2 Chinese Community in Britain.
1983–84 Amsterdam, Brussels, Geneva and Vienna 2 Refugees.
The total costs incurred to date on these visits by the Sub-Committee are £44,999.
Scottish Affairs Committee
1979–80 Dublin 2 To see the workings and approach of the Industrial Development Authority of Ireland for an inquiry into Inward Investment in Scotland.
1980–81 Dusseldorf 2 To examine measures taken in West Germany to alleviate Youth Unemployment for an inquiry into Youth Unemployment in Scotland.
1981–82 Brussels and Hamburg 2 To investigate Freeports for an inquiry into Prestwick airport.
1981–82 Shannon, Baltimore, Washington and Miami 2 To investigate Freeports for an inquiry into Prestwick airport.
1983–84 Norway 2 To examine the implementation of regional policy in connection with an inquiry into the Highlands and Islands Development Board.
The total costs incurred to date on these visits by the Committee are £22,285.
Social Services
1980–81 Sweden 3 In connection with inquiry into Medical Education.
1981–82 Brussels, Paris 2 In connection with the inquiry into the Age of Retirement.
1982–83 Denmark, Netherlands 2 In connection with inquiry into Children in Care.
1983–84 United States of America 1 In connection with inquiry into Community Care with special reference to adult mentally handicapped and mentally ill people.
The total costs incurred to date on these visits by the Committee are £32,381.
Trade and Industry Committee
1980–81 Brussels 3 Inquiry into Steel.
1980–81 Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong 2 Inquiry into Imports and Exports.
1981–82 Brussels 4 Inquiry into Steel
1981–82 Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia 2 Inquiry into Trade with ASEAN.
1982–83 Brussels 4 Inquiry into Steel.
1983–84 Brussels 3 Inquiry into Steel.
The total costs incurred to date on these visits by the Committee are £66,787.
Transport Committee
1979–80 Belgium 1 Relevant to inquiry into European Commission's Green Paper on Transport Infrastructure.
1979–80 France 2 Channel Link Inquiry.
1980–81 North America 1 Urban Transport.
1980–81 France, Germany and Denmark 4 Urban Transport.
1982–83 Holland, Germany, Austria and Italy 3 Road Maintenance.
1983–84 France 2 Road Safety.
1983–84 United States of America and Japan 1 Organisation, Financing and control of airports.
The total costs incurred to date on these visits by the Committee are £68,152.
Treasury and Civil Service Committee
1982–83 Washington 2 In connection with inquiry into International Monetary Arrangements.
The total costs of this visit by the Committee are £17,658.
Welsh Affairs
1981–82 Brussels 3 Inquiry into the impact of the EEC on Wales.
1982–83 France and Luxembourg 3 Inquiry into the impact of the EEC on Wales.
1982–83 Republic of Ireland 1 Inquiry into the impact of the EEC on Wales.
The total costs of these visits by the Committee are £12,109.
The total costs to date of overseas travel by departmental Select Committees are £745,480.