§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those who have accompanied (i) him and (ii) his departmental Ministers on overseas visits since 1 January indicating(a) the venue of the visit, (b) the purpose of the visit, (c) the names of those involved, (d) the job of those involved, (e) the reasons why they were included in the visit and (f) the cost to public funds. [53836]
§ Mr. StrawAll overseas visits by Ministers are conducted in accordance with the principles set out in the Ministerial Code. Information in the precise form requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The available information is set out in the table.
833W
Name of Minister Dates Place visited Purpose Accompanied by Cost (£) Secretary of State 4 to 6 February 1998 Washington, USA Accompany Prime Minister—meetings with National Institute of Justice, Baltimore Police Department, Department, of Justice and Attorney General Reno 1 official, 1 Special adviser 283 Michael O'Brien MP 10 to 11 February 1998 Brussels To attend the 'Let's Kick Racism Out of Football' Seminar 2 officials 635 Lord Williams of Mostyn QC 15 to 16 February 1998 Paris To address the OECD Workshop on Global Network Society 1 official 350 Joyce Quin MP 8 to 9 March 1998 Prague To discuss EU enlargement 2 officials 1,300 Secretary of State and Joyce Quin MP 18 to 19 March 1998 Brussels To attend the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting 11 officials 5,400 Lord Williams of Mostyn QC 21 to 25 March 1998 Thailand To launch a UK funded course on Child Sex Exploitation 1 official 3,000 Joyce Quin MP 26 March 98 Amsterdam To address the Dutch Probation Conference 1 official 366 Joyce Quin MP 16 to 17 April 1998 Warsaw To discuss EU enlargement 2 officials 1,622 Joyce Quin MP 21 to 22 April 1998 Vienna To address the UN Crime Commission 1 official 1,255 Joyce Quin MP 28 April to 1 May 1998 Budapest To discuss EU enlargement 2 officials 1,600 Secretary of State 14 May 98 Vienna Meetings with the Austrian Interior Minister and Minister of Justice 2 officials 1,225 Lord Williams of Mostyn QC 26 to 27 May 1998 Milan To visit the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) 3 officials 1,500 Secretary of State and Joyce Quin MP 27 to 29 May 1998 Brussels To attend the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting 10 officials 3,500 George Howarth MP 7 to 10 June 1998 New York To attend the UN Special Commission on Drugs 2 officials 3,980 Joyce Quin MP 29 to 30 June 1998 Brussels To address the European Presidency Civil Liberties and Legal Affairs Committees 2 officials 704 George Howarth MP 30 June 1998 Brussels To address a meeting of the EU Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs Committee 4 officials 1,531 1 Travel and accommodation costs not met by Home Office