§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for each of his executive agencies for the last financial year in respect of overseas travel by staff of the agency(a) the cost, (b) the countries visited and (c) the posts held by the staff involved. [2358]
§ Mr. LangResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the chief executives of the agencies for which my Department is or has been responsible. I have therefore asked Mr. David Durham of Companies House, Mr. Peter Joyce of the Insolvency Service, Dr. Richard Worswick of the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, Dr. Peter Clapham, acting chief executive for the National Engineering and National Physical Laboratories, which ceased to be agencies earlier this year, Dr. Seton Bennet of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory, Mr. Paul Hartnack of the Patent Office and Mr. Jim Norton of the Radiocommunications Agency to arrange for replies to be given. My Department's Accounts Services Agency has also ceased to be an executive agency. Its financial and management accounting functions did not necessitate overseas travel.
Letter from R. D. Worswick to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 29 November 1995:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to you about overseas travel by staff of the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC).In financial year 1994/95 just over £99,000 was spent on overseas travel (air fares, hotel bills and subsistence); of this £56,000 was for travel to EU countries and £43,000 for travel outside the EU.Visits were made to Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and the USA. These visits were made in order to fulfil customer contracts.47WThe staff involved were within the Civil Service grades Scientific Officer to Grade 3, with the bulk of the trips made by staff in Grades 5, 6, 7 and Senior Scientific Officer.Letter from Peter Joyce to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 November 1995:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your Question about overseas travel by staff in The Insolvency Service during 1994/95.The total cost of overseas travel for 1994/95 was £9,050: the countries visited were Austria, Belgium Canada, France and Spain: and those visits were made by myself, a grade 4, a grade 5, and insolvency B grade (equivalent grade 7) and an insolvency C grade (equivalent SEO).Letter from Seton Bennett to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 November 1995:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) to your Question about overseas travel by the staff of the Agency.For NWML, the information you requested is as follows:
- (a) The cost of foreign travel by Agency staff in the financial year 1994/95 was £25,692 (some of which was recovered from the European Commission);
- (b) The countries visited were Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland;
- (c) Apart from myself, some 13 different members of staff were involved, who hold a variety of posts in the Agency.
Letter from Peter Clapham to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 November 1995:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your Question about overseas travel by staff of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the National Engineering Laboratory (NEL) during the last financial year.As you will be aware, NPL and NEL are no longer executive agencies, both now being operated by private sector management. However, as the last Chief Executive of both laboratories I am pleased to respond to your question.I should comment that as internationally active research and technical advice laboratories, both NPL and NEL have a wide range of overseas commitments associated with, for example, collaborative projects, international consultancies, conferences and committee work. A significant proportion of staff travel costs is met directly by customers and in some cases these costs are not separately identified in our accounts. However, the approximate totals for overseas travel and subsistence in 1994/95 were £520,000 and £130,000 for the NPL and NEL respectively.As you might expect from the extent of both laboratories' activities, the countries visited and the grades of staff involved are very wide ranging and it would not be practicable to provide you with a breakdown. However, if you have some specific queries I should be happy to do my best to elicit the information for you.Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 29 November 1995:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your Question about overseas travel by staff of the Agency.The Radiocommunications Agency has a major international role. It represents UK-wide interests in many international fora at the European and global levels. These activities all relate to the effective management of the radio frequency spectrum and include the harmonisation of frequency usage, the development of radio regulatory regimes, and the adoption of international standards for radiocommunications equipment. The interests we represent include the Agency's customers who use the radio spectrum, other 48W government departments, manufacturers, operators and service providers. In some fora we also represent the interests of the UK's dependant territories.With the agreement of ministers, we play an active and constructive role in the relevant fora and, particularly in Europe, we play a leading role by holding chairmanships and making substantive contributions to the development of international agreements.For the financial year 1994/95, the Agency spent a total of £538,202 on overseas travel including subsistence. In keeping with the Agency's net running cost regime, all of this expenditure was recovered through licence fees and other income.This expenditure involved extensive travel throughout Europe, some visits to the Americas and occasional visits to other parts of the world. The staff involved ranged from the Chief Executive to junior administrative staff (in support of large delegations to world treaty-making conferences). A detailed breakdown of countries visited and staff levels involved could only be provided at disproportionate cost.I hope that this information is of interest.Letter from David Durham to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 December 1995:
The President of the Board of Trade, the Rt Hon Ian Lang MP, has asked me to reply to your Question about overseas travel by staff of Companies House Executive Agency during the last financial year.The information you sought is as follows:
- (a) Cost: £12,000
- (b) Countries Visited: Anguilla, USA, Eire, Belgium and France
- (c) Posts held by staff involved: Chief Executive, senior and middle management grades.
I should explain that in the case of Anguilla, the net cost to Companies House will be nil, because the visit was in connection with consultancy advice we provided to certain overseas administrations, for which we are reimbursed. I hope this information fully answers your question.Letter from P. R. S. Hartnack to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 4 December 1995:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question about overseas travel by Patent Office staff in 1994/95.The information you requested is as follows:
49W
Countries visited Grades visiting Total cost £ America 2xSPE 1xPE 10,472. 09 Austria 2xG3 1xG6 1xEO 1xPE 2xSE 4,748. 98 Belgium 2xG3 3xG5 6xG7 1xSEO 10xSPE 21xPE 33xSE 37,708.90 Canada 2xG7 1xSPE 4,974.85 Denmark 1xSPE 2xSE 3,335.68 Finland 1xSPE 905,13 France 1xSPE 1xPE 2xSE 5,781.01 Germany 10xG3 8xG4 2xG6 1xHEO 3xEO 6xSPE 5xPE 8xSE 2xE 34,875.97 Greece 1xG4 1xPE 1xSE 2,436.98 Holland 1xG5 2xG7 2xSPE 2xPE 5xSE 6,754.41 India 1xPE 1,113.52 Ireland 1xPE 2xSE 961.66 Italy 1xG4 1xPE 1xSE 1,529,66
Countries visited Grades visiting Total cost £ Japan 1xG4 1xPE 7,285.02 Luxemborough 1xG4 1xG5 1xPE 1,298.44 Solvenia 1xG3 778.80 Spain 2xG3 2xG4 3xG5 1xG6 2xG7 3xPE 2xSE 10,320.90 Sweden lxG7 719.05 Switzerland 1xG3 7xG4 1xG5 lxG6 5xG7 3xSEO 2xHEO 2xSPE 13xPE 13xSE 47,815.37 Zambia 1G4 965.54 Note:
G3 Grade 3.
G4 Grade 4.
G5 Grade 5.
G6 Grade 6.
G7 Grade 7.
SEO Senior Executive Officer.
HEO Higher Executive Officer.
EO Executive Officer.
SPE Superintending Examiner.
PE Principal Examiner.
SE Senior Examiner.
E Examiner.
As can be seen the bulk of overseas travel by Patent Office staff was to Belgium, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. These countries are respectively the seats of the European Commission, the European Patent Office, the EC Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (which deals with trade marks) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation.