§ Mr. HallTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a list of all overseas visits made by all Ministers of his Department since 1990, including(a) details of the places visited and brief reasons for the visit, (b) details of size, composition and cost to public funds of the delegation and (c) the names of non-ministerial members of each delegation and the capacity in which each was present.[17499]
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[holding answer 1 March 1996]: Since I became Chancellor of the Exchequer in May 1993, Treasury Ministers have made nearly 100 overseas visits. Details are as follows:
325W
Place visited Reason for visit Chancellor 1993 6-7 June Luxembourg ECOFIN 6-7 July Japan G7 12 July Brussels ECOFIN 18-19 July Germany — 1-2 August Brussels EC Finance Ministers 12-13 September Brussels ECOFIN 326W
Place visited Reason for visit 25-29 September Washington IMF 24-25 October Luxembourg ECOFIN 21-22 November Brussels ECOFIN 5 December Brussels ECOFIN 10-14 December Brussels European Council 28 December-5 January 1994 Indonesia Trade delegation 1994 5-10 January Philippines Trade delegation 27-30 January Davos, World Economic Switzerland Forum 8-9 February France Speaking engagement and bilateral meeting 13-14 February Brussels ECOFIN 14-15 March Detroit G7 Jobs Conference 20-21 March Brussels ECOFIN 22 March Sweden Bilateral meeting 7-9 April Greece Informal ECOFIN 15-16 April Warsaw Bilateral meeting 17-19 April St. Petersberg EBRD 24-26 April Washington G7 15-16 May Brussels ECOFIN 5-6 June Brussels ECOFIN 6-7 June Paris OECD 23-25 June Corfu European Council 29 June Cologne Bilateral meeting 8-10 July Italy G7 11 July Brussels ECOFIN 27 July Brussels ECOFIN 9-11 September Dusseldorf Informal ECOFIN 18-19 September Brussels ECOFIN 26-28 September Malta Commonwealth Finance Ministers 28 September—4 October Madrid G7 9-10 October Luxembourg ECOFIN 21 October Brussels ECOFIN 6-7 November Brussels ECOFIN 18 November Chateaudun Anglo-French Summit 4-5 December Brussels ECOFIN 8-10 December Essen, Germany European Council 1995 31 December 1994—5 January 1995 Malaysia Trade delegation 5-10 January Thailand Trade delegation 11-12 January Vietnam Trade delegation 16 January Brussels ECOFIN 26-29 January Davos, World Economic Switzerland Forum 3-4 February Toronto G7 20 February Brussels ECOFIN 19-20 March Brussels ECOFIN 7-9 April France Informal ECOFIN 24-27 April USA G7 14-17 May Ukraine Bilateral meeting 21-22 May Brussels ECOFIN 25 May—6 June India Trade delegation 15-17 June Canada G7 18-19 June Luxembourg ECOFIN 25-27 June Nice European Council 10 July Brussels ECOFIN 18 September Brussels ECOFIN 29 September—1 October Valencia Informal ECOFIN 2-6 October Jamaica Commonwealth Finance Ministers 6-9 October Washington IMF 22-23 October Luxembourg ECOFIN 26-27 November Brussels ECOFIN 14-16 December Madrid European Council 29 December-1 January Paraguay Trade delegation 1996 1996 1-5 January Argentina Trade delegation 6-9 January Chile Trade delegation 9-13 January Brazil Trade delegation 19-21 January Paris G7 327W
Place visited Reason for visit 22 January Brussels ECOFIN 11 March Brussels ECOFIN 14-20 March South Africa Trade delegation 20-24 March Zimbabwe Trade delegation 12-14 April Verona Informal ECOFIN 14-16 April Sofia EBRD 20-23 April Washington IMF Spring meetings Economic Secretary 1993 1 June Paris OECD 14-16 July New York and Washington Trinidad Terms 16 September Hanover Financial Services Conference 20 September—1 October Caribbean Commonwealth Finance Minister's Meeting 11-13 October Brussels and Financial Services Luxembourg Regulation 1994 21-29 April Japan Trilaterals with Securities Regulators 16-20 May New York and Industrial Finance Los Angeles Initiative 18-23 September Saudi Arabia, Accompanying the United Arab Prime Minister on His Emirates and Business Programme South Africa 24-25 October Dubai British Bid Business Forum 1995 3-6 January New York/Boston GATT Talks 9-11 April Switzerland Meetings with Swiss Ministers of Finance and Economy 10-12 May Washington GATS/FS 29 May—1 June Hong Kong and To discuss Korea GATS/Financial Services 15 June Halifax, Canada Halifax Summit 1996 15 April Toronto, Canada British Invisibles Conference Chief Secretary 1993 3-10 July Mexico and Chile Bilateral visit (at FCO's expense) 1994 5-12 March Brazil and Chile Bilateral visit and attending the Chilean Presidential Inauguration (at FCO's expense) 27-28 June Spain Bilateral visits 1995 1-6 June Oman and Saudi International relations 1996 1-2 April Lille Jobs Conference Paymaster General 1993 7 June Luxembourg ECOFIN 21-22 July Brussels Budget Council 15 November Brussels Budget Council 1994 25 July Brussels Budget Council 15-16 November Brussels Budget Council
Place visited Reason for visit 1995 24 July Brussels Budget Council 17 November Brussels Budget Council 1996 21 March Brussels CIPFA Conference Financial Secretary No visits made. Because of the way out records are currently maintained, to give details of the size, composition and disaggregated costs of travel in each case by both Ministers and officials would entail disproportionate cost. Nonetheless, all costs, including those of the Minister involved are rigorously scrutinised, and the compositions of delegations are kept to a bare minimum.
In total the costs of Treasury Ministers' overseas travel by financial year is as follows:
- 1993–94:£147,000
- 1994–95: £123,000
- 1995–96 (to date): £110,000.
The names of non-ministerial members of delegations are, by convention, not given.