§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many times special advisers have accompanied Ministers on overseas visits in each of the last five years; which countries were visited; and what the total cost of each individual visit was. [47153]
§ Mrs. Liddell[holding answer 10 April 2002]: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.
Since that date there have been two occasions when a special adviser has accompanied Scotland Office Ministers on overseas visits.
The details of these visits are as follows:
Year Occasions Country visited Cost of visit (£) 2001–02 1 Belgium Spain 2002–03 1 545.87 728.61 All travel by special advisers is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Handbook.