§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list(a) details of all overseas trips made by him, or ministerial colleagues in his Department, paid for wholly or partly from public funds and (b) the purpose, destination and duration of such overseas trips, which officials accompanied him and the total cost in each case, including that of officials, to public funds for each year since 1992. [32260]
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Ministerial overseas travel 1993 Duration Purpose £ Secretary of State USA 23–25 June UN Commission on Sustainable Development 8,995 Luxembourg 28 June EC Environment Council 764 Belgium 7 September Bilateral with EC Environment Commissioner 621 Monaco 21–26 September Promotion of the British Olympic Bid 2,268 France 28–29 November Bilateral with French Environment Minister 1,901 Belgium 2–3 December EC Environment Council 1,037 Mr. Yeo Luxembourg 28–29 June EC Environment Council 1,039 China 1–10 September British construction industry mission to China. 14,337 Discussion of environmental and construction issues with new Japanese Government Luxembourg 5–10 October EC Environment Council 939 Germany 28 October Meeting with German Environment Minister about EC Packaging Directive 737 Belgium 9 November EC symposium on environment and development 474 USA 14–18 November To study US approach to air pollution, energy management and the use of economic instruments 8,861 Belgium 2 December EC Environment Council 474 Denmark 7 December Intermediate Ministerial meeting on the North Sea 992 Belgium 15–16 December EC Environment Council 626 Mr. Curry Netherlands 14–15 September EC Council of Ministers meeting on Regional Government 441 USA 19 September—2 October To examine local government and planning practices, in the USA and meet counterparts in US Government 10,149 Mr. Baldry Taiwan 29 May-6 June Construction Trade Mission 6,337 Belgium 23 September Visit to the "British House" exhibition of British building materials 275 Lord Strathclyde Hungary 1–3 June Energy Efficiency Trade Mission 1,547 South Africa 19–24 September Water Trade Mission 5,437 Lady Denton Belgium 20 October Meeting of EC Housing Ministers 621
§ Mr. GummerThe information available, which relates to the period since I became Secretary of State, is set out in the table. Information concerning the officials attending is not held centrally, although the costs shown include any costs incurred by private secretaries accompanying Ministers. I should like to thank Ministers and civil servants who have represented the UK so effectively on these occasions and contributed to making us the world leader in environmental protection and a major exporter of environmentally friendly technology. I hope that, in the coming year, we shall be able to do even more to promote British business and British interests in the rest of Europe and abroad.
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Ministerial overseas travel 1995 Duration Purpose £ Secretary of State France 3–5 February Informal EC Environment Council 1,793 Norway 10 February Round Table Conference on Sustainable Production and Consumption 556 Germany 5–7 April Meeting of Parties to the Convention on Climate Change 1,694 USA 26 April-1 May UN Commission on Sustainable Development 12,633 Kenya 20–23 May UNEP Governing Council 7,943 Germany 29–30 May Bilateral with the German Environment Minister 744 Denmark 9 June North Sea Conference 1,300 Luxembourg 22 June EC Environment Council 1,090 Mr. Atkins Belgium 23 January EC Environment Council 180 Belgium 8 March EC Environment Council 437 Mr. Curry Netherlands 7 May Meeting on European local government and regeneration 511 The Lord Ullswater Netherlands 8 February Building Exhibition 401 Lebanon/Syria 23–27 April Construction Trade Mission 2,195 Vietnam 27 May-3 June Construction Trade Mission 7,806 The Earl of Lindsay South Africa 26 June World Environment Day 4,019 South America 15–21 June Environment Conference 3,114 538W 539W
Ministerial overseas travel 1994 Duration Purpose £ Secretary of State Czechoslovakia 28–29 January Global Environment Awards 1,004 Switzerland 16–17 February United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/GATT Meeting 2,192 Italy 12–13 March G7 Informal Ministerial Meeting 1,485 Belgium 24–25 March EC Environment Council 2,366 Greece 12–16 May Informal EC Environment Council 2,515 USA 25–27 May UN Commission on Sustainable Development 11,303 Luxembourg 8–9 June EC Environment Council 1,205 Norway 13–14 June Second Sulphur Protocol Meeting 895 Finland 21–22 June WHO Conference 1,380 India 25 July International Forestry Workshop 6,452 Belgium 28 July Transfer to Brussels to commence leave delayed by Government business 481 Austria 1 August Bilateral with the Austrian Environment Minister 746 Brazil/Argentina/Chile/Paraguay 3–12 September Bilaterals with South American Environment Ministers; export promotion and fact-finding mission 11,772 Luxembourg 4 October EC Environment Council 697 Switzerland 22 November UNCTAD/UNEP meeting on Trade and Environment 972 Belgium 15 December EC Environment Council 754 France 21 December Bilateral with the French Environment Minister 1,211 Mr. Atkins Netherlands 22 March Water conference 548 Belgium 23–25 March EC Environment Council 1,181 Belgium 15 December EC Environment Council 416 Sir George Young Lebanon 27 April Construction Industry export promotion 2,800 Kazakhstan 30 May-4 June Construction Industry export promotion 4,411 Mr. Curry Greece 3–5 June Informal EC Council 1,761 Poland 17–18 October Ministerial Conference on Local Government 2,982 France 19 October Thames Corridor Regeneration 612 Belgium 20 October and "EuroLille" link 464
Ministerial overseas travel 1994 Duration Purpose £ The Earl of Arran India 23–26 February Indo-British Environment initiative meeting 5,666 Barbados 4–6 May Small islands developing states conference On behalf of FCO Denmark 9 May European "Better Environment Awards for Industry" 732 Spain 31 May-3 June ceremony Water trade mission 1,656 Mr. Jones Czechoslovakia 7 November Energy Efficiency Trade Mission 1,036 Sir Paul Beresford Germany 21 Sepember EC Informal Council on Spatial Planning 1,021 Australia/New Zealand 16–24 November OECD Planning Conference 7,784