HC Deb 21 July 1980 vol 989 cc56-9W
Sir Donald Kaberry

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ministers in his Department have made journeys abroad; if he will specify the number of separate occasions (a) to EEC countries and (b) to overseas countries outside the EEC within the 12 months to 30 June; how many staff of his Department and others accompanied the individual Minister on each occasion; what was the overall cost on each occasion in respect of travel, subsistence and other expenditure involved; how many days were occupied on each visit; what was the object of each journey; and how many such visits are now planned to be undertaken from 1 July to 31 December.

Mr. Whitelaw

The information requested for the 12 months to 30 June is given in the following table:

Country visited
Minister EEC Other Number of Home Office officials accompanying† Number of days occupied Object of visit Overall cosf† £
Mr. Whitelaw Australia/New Zealand 1* 17 Discussions with Ministers 7,634.00
Spain 3 3 Discussions with Minister of Interior 1,614.00
Mr. Brittan Italy 2 3 Meeting of EEC Ministers of Justice 1,414.00‡
Luxembourg 2 4 Conference of Council of Europe Ministers of Justice. 1,137.00‡
Republic of Ireland 2 2 Meeting of EEC Ministers of Justice 1,062.00
Mr. Raison Holland 2 2 Informal meeting of European Ministers with responsibility for women's rights. 357.00
Indian sub-continent 2 14 Fact-finding on immigration procedures and visit to areas of migration. 6,106.00
Switzerland 2 3 Meeting of Executive Committee of United Nations High Commission for Refugees. 1,258.00†
Lord Belstead Sweden 2 3 Ministerial meeting of the Pompidou Group on misuse of drugs. 1,740.00
* Accompanied in addition by Mrs. Whitelaw.
† Personal dectectives not included.
‡ Estimated where actual costs not readily available.
One visit is planned before 31 December.