§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 17 November,Official Report, column 119, what was the cost to the Exchequer of the visits of the chief executive of the Building Research Establishment to (a) the USA and (b) Finland during the last 12 months.
§ Mr. BaldryResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to Mr. Roger Courtney as chief executive of the Building Research Establishment.
Letter from R. Courtney to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 14 December 1992:
COSTS OF OVERSEAS VISITS
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your further question asking the costs to the Exchequer of two recent fact-finding visits abroad.The visit to the National Institute for Standards and Technology took place on the return journey from a Board meeting in Mexico City of the International Council for 315W Building Research Studies and Documentation (CIB). The two days that I spent in Washington entailed no extra air fare but cost £206.54 in subsistence and minor expenses.The visit to the Technical Research Institute, Finland (VTT) was combined with attendance by invitation at a meeting of heads of national research institutes. The three day meeting cost a total of £881.09 in fares and other expenses.