§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list those who have accompanied (i) him or his predecessor and (ii) his departmental Ministers on overseas visits since 1 January indicating(a) the venue of the visit, (b) the purpose of the visit, (c) the names of those involved, (d) the job of those involved, (e) the reasons why they were included in the visit and (f) the cost to public funds. [53844]
§ Mr. DenhamAll overseas visits by Ministers are conducted in accordance with the principles set out in the Ministerial Code. Information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, I can confirm that since 1 January 1998 Ministers in this Department have been accompanied on the following overseas visits:
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Minister Date Place visited Purpose Accompanied by Frank Field April 1998 Paris Post Office Private Secretary Keith Bradley April 1998 Paris Social Partners Private Secretary and two officials Frank Field June 1998 Stockholm Centre for Business and Policy Studies Private Secretary Frank Field June 1998 Paris OECD Private Secretary The total costs incurred by the Department for this period are £26,000.