§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment on how many occasions in the past year the spouse of a Minister in his Department has traveled abroad at public expense to accompany a Minister on public duties, and what has been the total cost to public funds; and on how many occasions such travel has been undertaken at own cost.
§ Miss WiddecombeIn the past year, there have been two occasions where a spouse has accompanied a departmental Minister on an official overseas visit. Of those, only one visit involved a cost to public funds amounting to £862.95. That occasion was an informal EC social affairs meeting held in Athens on 10 March 1994 and to which the spouses of all EC Ministers attending had been officially invited by the Greek Government.