§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions in the past year the spouse of a Minister in his Department has travelled 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.
§ Mr. SoamesSince the beginning of 1994, Ministers in my Department have been accompanied by their spouses on public duties overseas on five occasions. On each of those occasions the extra cost to the Department would have been either negligible or nil, as the spouses in question travelled on RAF aircraft which were already assigned to the visit, and on four occasions were accommodated in official residences.
On one occasion a Minister and his spouse were accommodated in a hotel but in a room that the Minister would have occupied if he had not been accompanied.
Procedures outlined in "Questions of Procedure for Ministers" were followed in all cases.